Timebomb
by TanjaBrennan
Summary: A new killer comes to the city, leaving behind his victims in garbage bags. Now Bones und Booth who are sent of to couple's therapy by Gordon's advice, have to deal with their own personal issues and a murderer who gets closer to them as they might expect
1. Prologue

Prologue

The shovel got rammed into the ground on regular terms. Next to the hole that got more and more shape, a heap of earth developed. The man pushed the shovel again and again in the ground and formed a regular grave. When he was satisfied with his work, he based himself on the shovel and smeared the sweat from his forehead. With a dull sound the garbage bag blazed on the ground of the grave. The man hesitated for a moment and looked at the hole. He moved the bag a little with his shovel, before he started to fill the grave with ground again. Piece by piece the blue garbage bag vanished. An owl howled, when the man patted the ground. He looked around startled. But there was no one in the wood except him. His shovel reflected the moonlight, as he turned around and went with creaky steps to his jeep, that was parked a few meters away. The shovel got thrown in the trunk, got in the car and drove away. It was not until he'd left the last trees behind him that he switched on the light...

Brennan turned over the pages of a magazine. Headlines like „Paris Hilton back in prison" or „the newest diet of the stars" didn't attract her attention. „It's a pity that they don't have 'anthropology today' here." she thought.

She turned to Booth who was sitting next to her. „Who is Paris Hilton?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, but the expression on his face revealed his thoughts. „Not really ?!" With a sigh he put the magazine he had been reading on the table in the middle of the waiting room.

„Does the Hilton Hotel tell you something?" he asked with a snappy undertone and turned his head towards Brennan.

Brennan nodded. „Sure, I've stayed in one during a congress on Malta. The service was pretty good. And Paris Hilton ? Is this woman in charge for the Hotel in Paris ?"

Booth had to fight against an upcoming fit of laughter. „Mhm.. thereabout." he said and smiled.

Satisfied with his explanation, she took a look at the magazine again. Booth based his elbow on the backrest and laid his head in his hand. Without a word he observed Brennan, who frowned her forehead once in a while. He turned away amused and looked through the stack of magazines for something useful, when Brennan closed the magazine with a snap, threw it back on the stack and abruptly turned ot Booth.

„What are we actually doing here ?" she asked nerved.

Booth leaned back in his chair. „We're waiting."

But Brennan didn't let go. „I could be at the Jeffersonian now and work. Instead I'm sitting in this waiting room...with you!"

Booth looked at her aggrieved. „What's that supposed to mean? At least you can tell that you've been alone with a hot FBI agent. I got the Bone-lady."

Brennan pushed her lower lip forward. Ok, Booth doesn't have a good day today, she thought. „I'm just asking myself, why we're supposed to see a psychiatrist...we're working well together...we understand each other...more or less."

Booth nodded. „Mhm...and still Dr. Gordon gives me the referral to this psychiatrist." He said. Brennan just wanted to reply, as the secretary entered the room.  
„You're free to go to the treatment room now."

„Well, then go in and win!" Booth said with a sigh and stood up. When he laid his arm on Brennans' back and pushed her more or less out of the room, he raised an reproachful glance from Brennan. Thereupon he lifted his arms defensively until she turned around again and went into the room of the psychiatrist. Booth followed her, not without rubbing his hands nervously. „That sounds like fun!" he thought...


	2. 1 The Garbage Bag

„Peep" Brennan quickly pulled her card through the port and ran up the stairs to the gallery. Angela, Hodgins and Zack stood expectantly around one of the examination tables, on which lay a blue garbage bag. Booth ran at a brisk pace after her. „Don't you want to talk about it ?" he asked her gasping. Brennan didn't even turn around. „No! If I want to do so, I would already have done it, wouldn't I ?"she responded a little snappishly. Angela raised an eyebrow smiling. „Can I intervene ?"

Brennan and Booth both turned to her. „ NO!" Angela whistled quietly and shook her hand as if she'd burnt herself. „Seems to be a hot topic." she whispered towards Zack and Hodgins, who were standing next to her. Zack was holding on to a clipboard, that he had in front of his chest, while Hodgins crossed his arms and seemed to be amused by this situation.

Brennan coated her hands in gloves and took a deep breath. „Ok, what do we have?" she asked and her gaze rotated between Angela, Hodgins and Zack. Booth moved in front of the table and based his hands on his hip. But when he saw, what was in the garbage bag on the table, he breathed in sharply, turned around and hold his hand in front of his mouth.

„This garbage bag was found in Snake River" Zack started. „ A angler found the blue bag and when he..." Zack cleared his throat, „pulled it out of the water, it teared open on one side." Zack opened the garbage bag at this side and exposed a collection of decomposed body parts. Brennan wrinkled her nose. Booth moaned quietly

Now Hodgins began to speak. „ There are traces of soil and gravel in the bag. I assume the garbage bag was originally buries near the river and was moved to the surface by the recent floods we had at Snake River."

Angela had gotten pale by the time. „ Is this...one person? Or...oh god.." Hodgins placed his hand on her back to calm her. Meanwhile Brennan already started to have a closer look at the content of the bag. She opened the bag carefully and by using claws she put the separate parts into order on the table. „It's definitely one person, but some parts are missing. The right upper arm for example." Brennan explained with a critical look, not without noticing Booth, who was pointing towards Hodgins hand on Angelas back. „Why did you call me for this case ? There is too much flesh! I don't work with this much flesh!" she said irritated.

„The pathologist got everything out of it that was possible." Hodgins explained. Indeed the torso had been opened and closed again.

Brennan nodded. „Alright. Ok, the full program." she said and let her gloves flick when she pulled them off. „Zack, remove the flesh from the bones. After that you create copies from the ivories that you can give to the dental specialist. Maybe we can identify the victim by the teeth."

While Zack started his work more or less disgusted, Brennan turned and went towards her office. Booth followed her instantly. „Don't you think it's easier to just talk about it ? Or do you plan on ignoring me from now on ?" In doing so he was holding her on her arms and thwarted her. Brennan stopped unwillingly and looked right in his eyes. „No" she shook off his arms and entered her office.

Booth stood confused in the hallway. „What 'no'?" he shouted after her. „Talking or ignoring ?" he asked and got more and more silent, because she was closing the door while he was talking to her. Booth scratched his forehead and stood there brooding for a moment. Then he went down the stairs again. When he passed one of the column, he hit it with his closed fist. But he was so angry that he didn't feel the pain...

Angela and Hodgins had observed everything. Angela didn't understand anything anymore. That they were bickering was nothing new, but that Brennan left Booth in the hallway like that, shocked her nevertheless. „What's going on today?" she said. Hodgins was grinning. „My suspicion : Couples' therapy went wrong." he answered and left Angela behind, who was first nodding, then paused, turned abruptly towards Hodgins. „COUPLES' THERAPY ????!!!" she called and rushed after him.

Zack placed the remains on a tablet. He pushed it into a box of glass, in which he poured two containers of flesh eating insects over the remains. „Well then...Buen appetito!" he said. He sat down on a chair the other way around and based his arms on the backrest. „What's up?" asked Hodgins, who entered the room with Angela in tow.

„I'm cleaning the bones." he responded, without stopping to watch the insects, who went for the flesh. Zack put his hands in his coat and stepped closer to the box. He was smiling satisfied. „Ah, the big party!" Angela stepped next to him and watched the beetles distastefully. „Uargh...it will never stop, will it ?" she said and made a grimace.

„But to be serious, what did you mean before ?" she tried to get Hodgins attention. „Mhm...nothing." he answered randomly and continued admiring the hustle and bustle. She sighed annoyed, plodded out of the lab and left the fascinated men alone.

The water was roaring. He worked in complete darkness. But this didn't cause him any problems. He found every instrument, every tool and put it all under the water jet. If the light had been switched on, he would have been able to see the red and brown color of the water. At last he splashed water on the shovel and removed the last pieces of soil. After he finished cleaning he put everything in the right order again. The instruments in the bag, the shovel got fixed in a holder at the wall. Finally he cleaned the work space, rubbed everything dry with a towel and left the garage. He crossed the grass and went into the house. After he turned the lights on, he opened the cupboard in the kitchen and took a tube of hand lotion out of it. He rubbed in the cream carefully, while he was humming a melody of a tv commercial...


	3. 2 Confusion

Angela approached Brennans' office. Through the open door she could see how Brennan was cleaning up her usually very tidy desk. „What's still left to tidy up?" Angela asked herself. One look at Brennans' face told her that her behaviour had nothing to do with disorder. Angela leaned against the door frame, crossed her arms and watched Brennan displacing a stack of paper.

„Do you want to measure it and place it in exact right angle as well?" asked Angela and broke the silence with this. Brennan jerked for a second, but then stayed concentrated on the stack of paper and moved it a little bit to the left with her finger. „How long are you standing there already?" she asked casual.

Angela grinned. „Long enough to see that something makes you go crazy like an animal." she pushed herself off the door frame and sat down on the sofa.

Brennan was finally satisfied with the position of the stack of paper. She leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. „ To say something like that is actually not correct. There are a lot of animals that are calm an peaceful their whole life...not like humans...," she started to play with a pen,"...not like MEN!"

Angela raised one of her eyebrows. „Ok, Sweetie, what happened this morning ?"

Brennan put the pen down again. „Nothing...I mean...nothing unusual...I think." she said quietly and frowned.

Angela didn't understand anything now. „Honey, what's the matter?" Brennan stood up and sat down next to Angela on the couch. „Could we talk about this another time ?" she asked. Angela nodded irritated. „Ok, whenever you like."

They sat together for one minute without saying anything.

„Where actually have Hodgins and you been ?" asked Brennan out of the blue. „You two just returned a few days ago, but never explained where you have been the whole time after your...almost wedding."

Now it was Angelas' turn to hesitate. „Fiji"

Brennan was surprised. „Fiji??" Angela nodded. „Yes, Fiji. We...we were looking for documents about my first wedding." she continued and looked at Brennan directly. „I didn't know that it was significant...and to be honest...I didn't even know his last name!"

Now it was Brennan's turn to raise her eyebrow and to look sceptical. But Angela did not let herself get confused. „His name is Ray McDonald. Hodgins and I already came back a week ago, but we've been busy with some research to find out where he lives today. But we didn't find anything yet. It seems as if he left America."

Brennan pressed her lips together. „And what now?" she asked. Angela sighed. „Hodgins wants to get a private investigator. Apart from that I have no idea."

Both breathed out loud. Deep in thought they sat on the couch, when Cam found them later, as she entered the office and looked for Brennan at her desk unsuccessfully.

„Something wrong?" she asked and looked alternately from one to the other. Both looked at each other for a second and then turned to Cam. „No" they denied and shook their heads. Cam nodded her head knowing. „Ookay." Cam crossed her arms in front of her. „Zack has removed the flesh. But the beetles don't seem to feel very good. Either they just ate too much or they got poisoned. I bet it's the first." she tried to be funny. But she only got Brennan confused. „Poisoned ? With what?"

„We don't know that yet. I had to steal one of the beetles from Zack to do the test. But it takes at least an hour until I have the results. Miss Montenegro, could you already start with getting us the face of the victim ?"

Angela looked once more in the direction of Bones. „Sure" she nodded, stood up and left the office. Brennan rose as well. „Are the bones completely clean?"

„Zack said he still has to clean some pieces, but it should be enough for the first examination." answered Cam and followed Brennan out of the door.

He jerked when his mobile started to vibrate. He slowly put down the tool on the table that he was cleaning right now. With his left hand he reached into one pocket of his overall and pulled out the phone. „One new message" was shown on the display. He pressed the button to open the message. „They found her." he read. Then he let the phone vanish in his pocket again. He was in a good mood when he continued his work and placed one tool after the other in the disinfectant. There were a lot of people walking around him, everyone too busy with his own work to notice how he put some of the instruments in his right pocket after they've been cleaned.

Booth sat pondering at his desk. His computer screen showed all available data for the case „M356 – the woman in the Garbage bag". He was thinking about the file for over an hour, but there was not much evidence as the bag was found in a river. The only thing they had was the bag and the remains in it. Booth was strongly hoped that Bones would be able to bring enough evidence into the light of day to catch the murderer, because what they had now, was leading into nowhere.

The door of his office was open, so that he could see how other agents were walking around. He felt powerless. Everyone could work on the case...examine something. And he ? He was dependent on the squints. Without them he could not do anything. Not without Bones...


	4. 3 New Results

Thank you so much for your reviews ! English is not my mother tongue, so please try to ignore the translation errors ;-)

Booth already knew that something was wrong, when he turned around the corner to the anthropological area of the Jeffersonian. Normally there was at least one squint on the gallery, but this time there was no one he knew. Two assistents, who he had seen before preparing the examining table, were walking around on the gallery. A young blond woman pushed a carriage with medical instruments in front of her. When she noticed Booth starring irritated at the gallery , she turned in his direction.

„If you're looking for Dr. Brennan, she's in a meeting." she told him.

Booth only frowned even more. „Meeting ?...what kind of meeting ?" he asked and couldn't hide a light irritated undertone. The assistent put one instrument after the other on the table and answered without stopping her work.

„There probably are new results nobody expected. At least Dr. Saroyan announced a meeting for the „garbage-bag-case."

„Dr. Saroyan...mhm...where is this meeting ?" Booth asked a little angry. The assistent just pointed out the door on the frist floor and Booth turned to the stairs.

„A meeting...pfpf...and why does no one inform me ??!!" he thought while climbing up the stairs with big steps. When he arrived at the door he knocked shortly and opened the door without waiting for an answer. Everyone in the room turned around to him. Cam stood in front of the table. Angela and Inständig sat on one side of the table, Brennan and Zack on the other.

„Sorry for interrupting, but as nobody thought it'd be necessary to call me, it's not a surprise that I'm coming late !" Booth said reproachful, grabbed a chair and sat down next to Bones, who was ignoring him as good as possible.

Cam cleared her throat. „Ähm...yeah, ..as I already said, we're dealing with a Botulinum toxin poisoning. The bug I examined.." „Billy" Zack interrupted with a sad voice. Angela looked at him compassionately, while Hodgins and Booth both had an expression on their face like they're wondering if Zack was completely out of his mind. Cam wasn't looking at him less confused, before she continued. „The beetles died because of this intoxication. It looks like the toxin has been initialized to the victim intravenously. Botulinum toxin causes a weakening of the muscle contractions till the complete failure."

Angela moved her gaze aggrieved to the plate of the table. Booth was looking inquiringly at Brennan. „What...?" She looked at him directly the first time since he entered the room. „In case of an overdosage it comes to respiratory paralysis. The victim suffocated." She answered calmly.

„Oh.." Booth said and took a pen, that had been lying in front of him.

Cam waited a moment, before she went on. „The first signs of such an intoxication are shown after 5 to 15 hours after contact with the toxin. Among others those symptoms are headache and nausea. After a few hours the first muscles are paralyzed. A specific symptom for Botulinum toxin is the so-called ambiopia , which is caused by paralyzed eye muscles."

Cam pressed a button of the notebook on the table and a statistic was projected on the wall. This graphic didn't tell Booth anything, while Brennan sat up interested.

"On the basis of a blood example taken before the insects were given to the remains, we were able to detect a dosis of more than 50 pg of the toxin in the body of the victim."

"Mhm..." Hodgins mumbled, "someone wanted to play safe. 20 pg less are the letal dosis."

Cam nodded. "But that depends on the serotype."

Booth put down the pen, with which he had been playing the entire time. "Where can you get this Botulinan toxin ?" he asked.

Zack just seemed to awake from his grief over the dead beetles and answered : "Botulin**um **toxin! Also known as Botox !"

"In other words every plastic surgeon has it in his drawer." Hodgins mentioned.

Now Booth could understand why everyone was looking so depressed. Brennan shook her head. "One of the most toxic poisons of the world is used for getting rid of your wrinkles...that's just barbaric!" She said and received a "didn't-we-already-have-this?"-look by Booth. "So we have no clue who could have owned the poison or where it was bought from." He declared.

"Yep" Zack muttered and all of them remained silent for a moment. It was just now that Booth noticed the file on the table. It showed the same fotos, he already saw in his office. One of them showed the opened garbage bag with the decayed remains...

Hodgins and Angela left the meeting room and went down the stairs together. Zack was following them slowly, like he was still thinking about something. Brennan grabbed her documents and the pen Booth had been playing with, as well.

"Since when are you capable of translation squint language in normal English ?" Booth tried to make a joke. But Brennan didn't seem to feel like joking at all. "If you haven't noticed yet, I'm not a machine, that just knows its own programming language!" she replied snippy. Then she took her bag and left the room without looking once more at Booth, who looked crestfallen.

His phone didn't stop ringing the entire day. "Do I never have my peace ?" he thought and pressed grumpily the loud speaker button. "Ms. Combs is in the waiting room." the tinny voice of his secretary explained. He took the telephone receiver. "Why is she here this time ?" he asked annoyed. He had much more important things to do than to help a woman to feel like she was looking better than the girl with whom her husband was cheating on her.

"The usual thing. Botox. She also asked for a consultation for a second breast surgery." the secretary answered. Grumbling he put the files on his desk together. His glance fell on the computer screen. He took a last look at the foto of a young woman. She might be in her mid 20s, had long brown hair and green eyes. He closed the file and looked around to be sure, before he left his office with a smile on his face...


	5. 4 Bad Dream

_**Wow, you're really fast with reading. I stil have one more chapter to translate, than I first have to write the new one in german. All chapters are also posted here in german, the language in which I write it originally. Thank a lot for your reviews ! **_

Booth let himself drop into the armchair. He switched on the tv, although the programm didn't interest him at all. To relax after work and not to think about the case he was working on, often hadn't been easy for him, but today his thoughts went into a totally different direction the whole day already. Bones just left him standing there...Booth was frustrated. He knew from the very beginning, that it wasn't a good idea to go to a psychiatrist with her. He just should have shut up instead of following Wyatts advice to speak out what has been burning in his soul.

Booth took a big gulp out of the beer bottle. He had known that she wouldn't take it easy. He had expected her to make fun of it or to just accept it with a nod, but it totally took him by surprise that she took an airing like that. Booth surfed through the channels.

„I just don't get it !" moaned a teenager in a soap Booth got caught while pondering. He nodded. „You name it" he murmured quietly.

Booth woke up bit by bit. When he had opened his eyes completely, he turned his head to the left and a smile appeared on his face. He turned towards her with exhilaration. She seemed to still be a sleep and just looked amazing. Booth didn't want anything else than to watch her sleep. He lay down on one side and based his head on his right arm. Booth pulled the blanket that slided down a little bit back up and covered her carefully. He softly fondled her cheek and her arm, which she outstretched in his direction. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and looked at him with a smile. „Good morning" she said, still a little dozy. „Good Morning" answered Booth almost summing and hunkered over her. He kissed her tenderly and clasped her in his arms. Booth looked deep in her eyes and removed a strand of her hair from her face. Bones eyes glared at him. „Thank god we finally got over this stupid fight." he said and kissed her once more. When their lips parted again, Bones laid half on his chest and ran her hand over him. „Well, if you need that long to apologize..." she said playfully. „Aha, now it's my fault again !" Booth replied acting indignant. Bones looked up at him shortly. „Mhm...I think we're both not really fast when it comes to that." Booth played with a strap of her nightdress. „Mhm...well then we still have a lot to catch up..." Booth raised an eyebrow and slowly pulled down the straps of her shirt...

**PEEP PEEP PEEP**

Booth raised up gasping. „OH MY GOD!" Sitting in his bed he was gasping for air. After a minute he found the source of the peeping, that interrupted his dream and hit on the alarm clock. The peeping died and he didn't hear anything anymore...but he still had these pictures of his dream in front of his eyes. Booth rubbed his eyes, in the hope of getting rid of the picture of him and Bones in bed. He switched on the light and went into the bathroom, after making sure that he really was alone in his appartement. Even when he made himself a cup of coffee for breakfast he was still so lost in his thoughts that he canted salt instead of sugar in it. After taking a gulp he screw his face up distastefully and poured his coffee in the cast. Shaking his head he left his apartment. „Bones?" he said completely distracted and closed the door behind him.

Bones turned over the pages of the file in front of her. Angela was more lying than sitting on the couch. Brennan had dimmed the light in her bureau that much, that Angela was close to sleeping in.

„How can you be so fit?" She asked a little sniveling and placed one hand over her eyes, to repel the last rest of light.

„The brain is working best in the morning." Brennan declared just to put away the file in the next moment. „Although I can't feel that right now." she said yawning.

Angela turned towards Brennan and took her hand from her eyes. „Seems like it got a little late yesterday, hm ?" she asked curiously and grinned.

Brennan cocked her head. „I couldn't sleep in yesterday." she explained. „I've been reading the whole evening. I have no idea why it took me so long to get some sleep." she lied.

Angela raised up and sat up straight on the couch again. „I'd know a reason."

Bones looked at her frowning her forehead. Now she realized how tired Angela was looking. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had sleeping problems.

„Sleeping in actually wasn't my problem, more the staying asleep." Angela said and stretched. Bones face showed her being worried. „If you want that Cam takes you off the case.."

„No,...no" Angela contradicted and shook her head. „dropping out now ? That would just be coward. I'm working here for so long now, you should expect me to be used to it...to see things like this day after day...but sometimes it still gets me down."

Brennan stood up and sat down next to Angela. For a few minutes both just sat there and remained silent.

„How's the search for...you know.." Bones broke the silence. Angela prepared an answer, as Booth entered the room. „Good Morning!" he said a little to enthusiastic and clapped his hands.  
„And ? Any more new knowledge we didn't have yesterday ?"

Angela and Bones shared an expressive look. „You mean the case, right ?" Brennan asked a litte confused. Booth frowned his forehead. „Sure,...why, is there something I should know ?"

Brennan stood up slowly and rubbed her hands against her thighs. „Ähm...no...why ? Should there be something?" Brennan and Booth looked at each other for a moment like they've been frozen. Then both opened their mouths to say something but hesitated. Angela grinned and stood up as well. „Okaaaay,...I'm leaving, I still have to work on something...Bye !" she said and vanished out of the bureau.

Booth cleared his throat. „Well,...rmhm...do you.." Bones went to her desk. „I have taken a second look at the bones yesterday evening, but there weren't any remarkable features."

„Mhm..ok..So we don't have a single clue to the murderer, except that he has to have access to Botox." Booth brought it to the point. „He or she." Brennan replied and leaned back in her chair. Booth sat down on the chair in front of the desk. This was more depressing than anything...


	6. 5 Giving up is hard

Thanks for all your reviews so far ! It's nice to hear if someone likes it and pays off for all the work to translate it :-) I hope you also like the new chapter :

„Okay, what do we say, if he wants to know how we felt since our last appointment ?" asked Booth and put the magazine ,he had been going through, back on the table. Brennan sat as far away as the couch allowed it, had her legs crossed and her arms folded in front of her chest. You didn't have to be a psychiatrist to see that she wanted to be everywhere except here.

„We?" she replied snappish. „There is no '**we**', Booth! By the way, we have a new case and god knows I have much better things to do than sitting here !"

Booth sighed. „Well, then we're both stressed because of the new case...as you like it."

Brennan didn't look at Booth on purpose. She was angry and that not only because they were getting nowhere with the new case. Booth made her crazy. The problem was, that he actually wasn't doing anything, what drove her nuts even more.

And still her glance wandered slowly to Booth, who supported his head with his hands and was looking at the floor.

Now she felt sorry for being so harsh on him. Exactly when she opened her mouth to apologize the secretary entered the waiting room.

„The doctor has time for you now." she said with a nerve-racking good humoured voice. Booth almost

jumped up, as if he was happy to escape from the strained atmosphere, while Brennan hesitated.

The bushes rustled, when he was searching his way through the plants. He thought he might have missed it already when he finally found it. His favorite place. Between a yew tree and a fern he crouched down on the floor. The spyglass was still in his jacket, but not it was time. Even without the field glasses he could see that the light in the bathroom was turned on.

„Mhm...you wanna go to bed..." he whispered appreciatively and was already looking forward to the moment when she was changing her clothes. As every evening. She was standing in the middle of the room, had switched on the light and didn't seem to care that everyone outside could see her. Or she didn't think that someone was still in the wood next to her house at this time of the day. But he was there. On time as always.

He had no idea what her name was, but he'd find out. It was just a few days ago when he sneaked to the front door after all lights in the house had been switched out, to see if there was a name written next to the door bell or the letter box. His search was useless, but this had made her even more interesting for him.

The light in the bathroom got turned off and she entered the bedroom. Her long blond hair fell over her shoulder, as she looked through her closet for something. He observed every of her moves and waited impatiently for her to undress...

Brennan hunkered over the remains in front of her. Zack stood next to her and tried to memorize every of her movements, while Brennan removed a layer of the thigh bone. Carefully she put the material on a object slide, Zack was holding.

„Take a good look at the example under the stereo microscope. If you find something unusual, call me." Brennan said appointively.

Zack nodded and walked slowly in the direction of the microscope. Always watching out to prevent him from dropping the fine material on the floor.

Brennan positioned the instruments on a tablet and thrusted it into the hand of a new colleague, whose name she didn't even know, when she was leaving the gallery.

Angela approached her with a smile on her face. „Wow, someone's in a good mood today!" she said sarcastically.

Brennan raised one eyebrow. "He's new. The new ones are always responsible for the cleaning. I definitely don't have time for this now!" she snapped.

Angela lifted her hands defensively. "Okay, I actually didn't mean that, but alright."

The expression of Brennans' face became softer. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to.."

"It's okay." Angela put it off and laid one arm around Brennans' shoulder. "I forgive you...if you finally tell me what's going on."

Brennan sighed. It had been so sure that something like that had to come, she thought. She pressed her lips together. She actually wanted to simply forget it. To plunge into work, like she always did, when she wanted to escape from something...or someone.

"Angela, I..."

"Dr. Brennan!" Zack called from downstairs, when both had reached Angelas bureau. Brennan was relieved. It seemt like she got a chance to flee one more time. Angela folded her arms. "12 am. Lunch. If you don't show up, I'll come and kidnap you!" Angela threated with a smile. Brennan tried to smile as well. Then she turned around and hurried back down, to help Zack.

Booth turned the pen in his hand over and over. He actually should concentrate on the file in front of him, but his thoughts kept drifting to somewhere else. He regretted that he had to give in on the case with the body in the garbage bag after such a short time. He even hated it. Again someone, for whom he couldn't create justice. As far as that was even possible for a dead person. There were no clues that could lead them somewhere. In the lab the remains got identified by the imprints of the teeth as Sharon Morris. He had visited her home, just to see that there was no one who had been waiting for her. She had lived alone, didn't have a family anymore except for one grandmother in Oklahoma. She was informed about the death of her granddaughter and the funeral of what was left of Sharon, was planned for the next few days. It was one of the sadder cases. Sadder than the others, because he was able to catch the murderer. Brennan was already working on new cases, but he still had to deal with all the paperwork, before going on.

After a few minutes he realized that he had been starring at a foto next to his computer screen the entire time. Next to the foto of Parker another frame was placed. The picture showed Angela, Hodgins, Zack, Brennan and him in front of the Jeffersonian. It was taken on a Friday when there wasn't too much work, the sun was shining and they all met outside for lunch. Booth was sitting next to Bones. It was until he had seen the foto that he noticed how close he actually had been to her. He had laid one arm around her shoulder and all of them smiled for the camera. It had been a wonderful day. There were no fights, except for the usual bickering.

Booth would give everything to have one more day like this.

Filled with rage he put the tablet down next to the sink. "Who am I actually ?!" he thought snorting. "Her personal assistent, who cleans up her mess ?!" he hated her. The way she treated him, made him hate her with every part of his body. And still he couldn't do otherwise than cleaning the instruments and dry them carefully before putting them back. He tried to calm down. He was not allowed the cause any sensation by all means. To stay invisible was his strategy. Everything else never led to good things. He thought about his plans during his work. He wanted to take a blanket with him tonight. It was getting colder now and she had gone to bed later than usual yesterday. But it was worth the waiting for him...


	7. 6 The Reunion

Thanks for all your reviews. You really made my day ! Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it and leave a comment ;-)

Little by litte it got darker in the Jeffersonian. It was already after 8 o'clock. Most people went home hours ago, except Brennan. She did overtime again, as she often did. Although she wasn't working on the garbage-bag-case anymore, it hadn't been a calm day. One body after the other had to be examined by her. One man did during a car accident and got burned in the vehicle, another skeleton was found in an apartment and there were still a vast amount of remains in the archive of the Jeffersonian, waiting to be identified.

In the case of the skeleton in the apartement the work had been easy. It was the hirer, an old weak woman, nobody had heard of in months, but still no one seemed to have missed her. There was no other explanation why she had died alone in her apartement and wasn't found until the renter knocked at the door to collect his money but could only find the almost completely decomposed body. Brennan could merely ascertain that she had died a natural death. It made her sad. The old woman died lonely and no one had missed her. But she didn't have enough time to think about it for long. She still had to work on a question from a student and had actually planned to visit her father in prison this evening. She was sure that it would be weird. Brennan didn't see him since he was arrested. She tried to avoid that situation as long as possible. And she also did everything to stay a little bit longer in the lab today. At the same time she actually could have left hours ago...and still she couldn't bring herself to leave. But she still had another hour to drive to the prison. The visiting time wasn't over before 9 pm. Brennan wanted to open another file from the archive as Angela appeared in her door.

„Still here?" Angela asked with a light reproachful tone in her voice. She knew exactly why Brennan tried to evade the meeting with her father.

„You're here as well." Brennan replied without looking up from the file.

„You know that he can't come to you, don't you?" Angela sat down on the couch. „He's waiting for you, Sweety. How long do you still want to delay your visit ?"

Brennan closed the file, sat up in her chair and pulled down her top.

„I'm not delaying it. I just didn't have the time. All this work and then the appointments at the psychiatrist with Booth..." she sighed. „Do you think he wants to see me at all ?"

Angela lifted her eyebrows in surprise. „Why not? He came back because of you!" she stood up , grabbed Brennan's jacket from the hallstand and offered it to Brennan. „Go! If he doesn't want to see you he would not use every phone call he's allowed to do to talk to you, would he ?"

Brennan smiled and nodded. „Okay." she said quietly and took the jacket...

Angela watched Brennan walking down the stairs. She had actually wanted to talk with her about something else. She unknowingly pulled the foto out of her pocket. It was a copy. The private detective had kept the original. But this had to wait...

„BRRMMMM" The sound of the door lock came through the hall. Brennan nodded to the watchman before she entered the floor. The walls were cold and grey. It reminded her more of a house shortly before demolition than of visiting rooms of a prison. Another officer was patrolling in the hallway. Through the glass windows he could see into all the different rooms and help it it was necessary.

Brennan saw him sitting a the table. His hands were folded on the table in front of him and he let his head hang forward. He suddenly seemed to be much smaller in the typical clothes of a prisoner than she remembered. She hesitated a moment before she opened the door and entered the room. Max looked up by the sound of the door and beamed at her. "You came."

He got up and embraced her before she could do anything against it.

When he let go of her again, Brennan tried to smile. " I...had a lot to do."

Max nodded. "I see. It's nice that you're here."

Brennan sat down on the chair in front of him.

"How was the wedding?" he asked.

Brennan laid her hands in her lap, insecure how to behave. "Ehm..there wasn't an actual wedding. It turned out that Angela is already married."

"Oh" Max had an astonished look on his face. "And she wasn't aware of that before?" He took both glasses on the table and poured water in them.

Now Brennan really had to smile. "Apparently not. She jumped over a stick with a guy." she waved aside and took one glass in her hand.

Max laughed as well. "Well,...and I really thought you would do that with Booth."

Brennan almost choked up. "What?"

„It's not that absurd ! I saw how he's looking at you!" Max reckoned and winked at her.

„We're working together. Booth and I are partners, not more." Brennan explained a little more composed again.

Max nodded knowingly. „Mhm...that's why he had to play the hero..." Brennan frowned her forehead. „Although, we both actually did..."

„What are you talking about?" Brennan asked irritated.

Max sighed and took a gulp of water before he continued to speak. „My arrest..." he cleared his throat. „It didn't happen like Booth probably has told you."

Brennan was completely confused by now. „You turned yourself in and he arrested you."

Max pressed his lips together. „Yeah, he arrested me, ...after we had hit each other so that it didn't look like giving up without a fight.

Brennan was surprised. She had seen the bruise in Booth's face, but had thought his father had actually fought with him before turning himself in. „You two staged this ?" she asked unbelievingly.

„Mhm...sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do, honey." he took her hand, she had laid on the table. The touch was a little unpleasant, but she also didn't want to pull her hand away.

„And there's really nothing going on between Booth and you?" he asked seriously again.

„No, we're just colleagues." Brennan replied calmly. „...and friends...but not more!"

Max lost the struggle not to smirk.

At that moment the officer knocked at the window. Their time was over. Max grin vanished within a second. She got up faster than he liked it.

„When will I see you again?" he asked and wasn't able to hide a sad sound in his voice.

„I'm not sure. I have so much work...I don't know when..." she noticed the disappointed expression on his face. „...there's just a lot going on right now." she finished her sentence.

„Okay." Max nodded. The officer became impatient already and opened the door. „Miss...?"

„I'm coming." Brennan said and went for the door, where she looked at her father once more. „Bye."

She left the room and walked along the hallway without turning around again

Max was lead out of the room by another watchman. But it didn't depress him to go back to his cell now. She would come back. Of that he was sure.

When Brennan left the prison it was pitch-dark already. Fortunately she had parked directly in front of the entrance. She opened her car, threw her purse on the passenger seat, switched on the light and just wanted to start the motor as her phone ringed.

„Brennan" answered.

„Sorry to disturb you so late. But we have work..." Booth said on the other end.

After he had told here where the new body had been found, she drove off, without looking around...without noticing the man who leaned against the wall in a dark corner of the building and had been watching her the entire time...


	8. 7 The Body on the Garbage Dump

_Here's the next chapter. Have fun reading and please tell me what you think of it ;-) _

Chapter 7 - The Body on the Garbage Dump

Brennan parked directly next to several FBI cars. Although it was after 10 pm, it was as bright as day at this place. Booth had described the way to her very clearly, but she had been so deep in thought, that she passed the garbage dump the first time. She scolded herself for her inattentiveness. This normally never happens to her. But the reunion with her father had put her completely off. Even if she wasn't able to tell what exactly had stirred her up that much. What confused her even more. Usually everything seemed to be so rational, clear and logical. At the moment she wasn't sure of anything.

Just when she got out of her car she noticed how many people had come here. There were FBI agents in their typical jackets with neon signs on the back everywhere. Not far from the parked cars a group of agents was standing together. One agent was talking into a walkie-talkie, while others pointed with flashlights around, what didn't make much sense, because diverse lamps have been put up in the vicinity of the finding place.

Booth was standing next to the agents and looked up when he heared Brennan's crunching steps on the grit. He wasn't wearing the usual suit, but jeans and a black shirt over which he just coated his FBI jacket.

Brennan moved the carrying strap of her bag, in which she had all her instruments for a first examination of a body, in the right position and ignored the young FBI agent, who had left the group and was talking insistently to her.

„Where are the remains?" she asked Booth instead of a greeting.

Booth closed the zip of his jacket. „Thanks Bones, it's nice to see you, too."

The FBI agent, who had followed her persistently, nodded to Booth. „She belongs to you?"

Booth grimaced. „Professional, yes." he said, not without being amused when he watched Brennan rolling her eyes.

„Are you two done ?" Brennan was gradually stressed out. She didn't drive 40 km, just to listen to two man staking out their territory.

„Wow Bones, I understand that you're completely hot for your bones, but not everyone's allowed to come here." Booth replied. „The body was found back there." he pointed in the direction where even more lamps were standing. Brennan passed him without a word. Booth shook his hand as if he'd burned himself and the other agent grinned back, before Booth turned around and followed Brennan up to one hill of garbage.

„Hey Bones, how did the meeting with your father go ?" he asked when he had caught up with her.

„You can save your miserable attempt to start a civil conversation. I'm here to to examine remains and not to talk with you about my father." snapped Brennan.

Booth paused and lifted his arms defensively. „Okaaay..."

Brennan stooped under the yellow tape that marked the crime scene. She pressed her lips together when she saw the blue garbage bag. 'Not again' she thought. Booth stood one meter behind her and was holding his hand in front of his mouth. She bended down to have a closer look. She didn't even have to pull the gloves over her hands. The body, or rather what was left of it, had to be brought to the Jeffersonian. Brennan discovered the traves of a saw, with which the body had been fragmented. Some parts still had too much flesh on them for her liking, but most of the flesh had been removed and was, as she could tell, in the rest of the garbage bag. But she wasn't allowed to jump to conclusions.

„All of that has to be brought to the lab." she turned around to Booth, who seemed to have enlarged the distance between them.

„I already expected you to say that." he replied, without removing his hand from his mouth. Brennan began to bag small parts of the remains. The sight of Booth, who seemed to feel more and more nauseous, let her regret being so harsh on him.

Although the body had been brought to the Jeffersonian at the same night, the actual examination didn't start before the next morning. Brennan had slept badly. It was easy to blame the finding of the body at late evening for her restless sleep, but she knew that it had nothing to do with it. She had driven to the lab at 6 am because she didn't bear staying in bed anymore. Before most employees had come to work, Brennan had already examined the remains. It was a woman around 25 years of age. Very sportive, no illnesses, that could be detected by Brennan. She had already placed the tissue markers for Angela, arranged the bones in anatomical correct order on the table and removed the flesh completely after having talked with the pathologist, who had not been pleased at all, to get awaked by her. She was just comparing the traces of the saw, that she had discovered the day before, with known samples, when Cam came in.

„The results of the blood test are here." Cam had come to the lab yesterday evening as well, to start the test with the rest of blood that had still been in the flesh. „I don't like saying it, but it looks like this isn't just a murder case on it's own."

Brennan felt verified. „Botulinumtoxin?"

Cam nodded. „Exactly. Again the same dosage as at the first case. I had already suspected it. Fragmented, in a garbage bag...furthermore the garbage dump is near the Snake River."

„Only that the traces of the saw are more defined on these bones." Brennan mentioned casually, without interrupting her work.

Cam stepped closer and looked at the several saws, Brennan had spread on the table and was taking one after the other to create a sample of the cut in a piece of cellular rubber. „Is there something else?"

Brennan blinked. „I found signs suggesting forceful impact."

Cam raised her eyebrows in question. „What on this body doesn't point to forceful impact?"

Brennan laid the saw she had just used back on the table. „I'm talking about sexual abuse."

Cam was truely astonished. „You can tell that from the bones?"

Brennan took the next saw. „The fact that there are traces on the bones, only shows, that it definitely had not been voluntarily. It looks more as if someone cut her."

Cam swallowed. Already the imagination of it let her abandon her plans for a late breakfast. „Ok, go on with...you know.." Cam said quietly while leaving the room.

Booth rushed to Brennan's bureau. His foreshadowing was confirmed. Already when he got informed that a body had been found on the garbage dump close to the river, he had this presentiment. When he had had the garbage bag in front of his eyes, he had been fighting with his sense of guilt, that he was glad because it looked like they had new evidence for the garbage-bag-case, but at the same time another person had died. Shortly after Brennan had called him and had instructed him to the new results, he talked to Cullen and the case got opened again. It was almost a liberating feeling to have the file, he had sent to the archive just the day before, back on his desk.

He went directly to Brennans bureau. Just when wanted to open the door and enter the room, a man in a white lab coat stormed towards him.

„Oh sorry." he mumbled, without looking at Booth. Before Booth could reply something, the mand had already gone down the stairs. He shrugged and went into the office. Brennan wasn't there yet, but had assured him to meet him here. He sat down on the chair in front of Brennan's desk with a sigh. As much as the case was occupying his thoughts, now, that he would see Bones again any minute, he was only asking himself, why she had been so irritable yesterday. Sometimes he liked making fun of her, but she seemed to be extraordinary agitated last evening. He breathed out loud and let both of his arms drop on the back of the chair.


	9. 8 An Unexpected Gift

Chapter 8 - An unexpected gift

Brennan stormed with several computer prints in her hand in her office. Booth looked up surprised. „You're late."

„I know" she grabbed the file on her desk and pinned the prints in the back of it. „Angela identified the body." she threw a meaning look at him. Booth sat up straight and looked at her questioning.

Brennan sat down on her chair. „It's Rose Widenburgh."

Booth breathed in sharply. „The lawyer?"

Brennan nodded. „I've seen her the last time a few months ago. She used to work with us more often back then."

Booth hang his head and rubbed his neck. „Cause of death?"

„Botulinum toxin type A"

Booth have her a confused glance. „Type A ?"

„Botox for injection." Brennan explained and watched Booth sympathetically. At least as far as she was able to. She knew that Booth had flirted with Rose a few times, but until this day she had never been sure what actually disturbed her about that.

„Mhm..." Booth nodded and starred at the table board.

„Booth, I...I know that you knew her..." she tried to pull him out of his thoughts.

Booth addressed his glance back to Brennan. „She lived alone...close to the wood..."

Now it was Brennans turn to be surprised. „Near the garbage dump ?"

Booth negated. „Not really, but the river is just one kilometer away. She got a very good price for the house because she appeared for the broker once."

Brennan frowned. She actually didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't stop wondering how Booth knew all that-

„Did you find some other hints that could lead us to the murderer?" asked Booth hopefully.

Brennan shook her head. „Unfortunately not. I discovered some saw traces, that are more precise as on the first body. But the imprintings are still being compared with samples by Zack."

Booth stood up and clapped with his hands. „Do you have a copy of the file for me?" he asked and made no secret of wanting to leave now. Brennan handed the copy over to him without a word.

„Let's see if her colleagues know something. Maybe she got to know someone recently and told a coworker." Booth was already half out of the door, when he turned around again. „Bones,...if you get something new...you know.." he made a sign to tell her that she should call him. Brennan nodded and watched Booth leaving the lab.

Brennan was tired. It had been a very long day...and a depressing one as well. Someone she had known was dead and she couldn't even say who had killed her. For that the way she died and what had been done to her before that was standing even more precise in front of her eyes. The lift stopped on her level. When the doors opened she looked in the dark floor. Usually it was very calm at this time of the day, but not this calm. At least it seemed wrong to her.

'Come on, you won't get paranoid now...' she thought and still went faster through the floor to her door than usual. Out of the sudden she thought to hear steps behind her and turned around. But she wasn't able to see anyone. A discovery she made only after she turned back to her door. There was a blood red rose in front of her door...and a white card with red writing next to it. Brennan took a look around again. Then she bended down, picked up the card and turned it over to read the message. She didn't know who could have written it, but there was one thing she was sure of. The message was not written with ink...

„Thanks for coming." Brennan put down one of the tea cups in her hand in front of Booth.

„Are you kidding?! You come home and there's a rose and a card with blood on it in front of your door !" Booth was angry. He'd loved to hit a punching bag right now. „I don't know what kind of man you're fancying, but if this is a gift from your newest admirer, I preferred Sully.

Brennan looked aggrieved at her cup. As she still didn't reply after a minute, Booth cowardly took his cup in his hand. „Sorry,..that was obviously unnecessary."

Brennan sighed when she saw that Booth was honestly regretting saying this. „It's okay." she said, but her facial expression said something else.

'Good call, Booth, now you definitely went to far.' Booth thought and transfered his anger to himself.

„I like your new shampoo..." he murmured. Brennan looked up and scrutinized him.

He shook his head. „Where have you been in the last few days ?"

„The lab, in prison to visit my father...here...at the crime scene."

Booth rotated the cup in his hand. „And everywhere someone could have come close enough to you, without you being able to realize it. Already the prison was a place where I could find a thousand suspects...despite the fact that no one could actually come here and leave this card for you." Already the imagination, that someone dangerous had been so close to her made him go crazy.

Brennan got up slowly and went into the kitchen. Booth stayed at the table at first, but followed her when he had calmed down again. He leaned against the door frame and watched Brennan collecting different pots, rice and spices out of the cupboard.

„I'm sorry, Bones..I didn't mean to.." Booth said quietly.

Brennan didn't even really look at him. „I know...I..." she put one pot rattling on the cooker. „That with Sully...you.." she swallowed. „Do you really believe what you told Dr. Morris?" her voice was almost shaking.

„You thought about it?" Booth was honestly astonished about that. He had expressed his assumption at their very first meeting with the psychiatrist and since then she had simply blocked all his attempts to talk about that topic again.

Brennan shrugged. „Kind of."

Booth stepped closer to her and looked in her eyes. „Yes I do believe that. If it hadn't been like that, you would have left and would not stand in front of me now and cook dinner."

Both stood just a few centimeter away from each other. Booth took the bag of rice she had been holding out of her hand and put it on the sideboard, without averting his gaze. „Bones, it's not as bad as all that if you..."

But Brennan avoided him and passed him without a word before walking to the table next to her apartement door. She picked up the plastic bag, in which she had put the card, in her hand. She wanted to let the blood be analyze tomorrow. But she already had this feeling that it was human. Without thinking about it she checked the locks at her door. She didn't notice that Booth had stepped behind her and pulled the bag with the card out of her hand.

„Bones, let it be."

She flinched a little, but did not turn to him. He laid his hand on her shoulder. I'll stay here for the night. Just for the case..."

Brennan nodded. On the one hand she felt much better, when Booth was with her, but on the other hand she didn't feel like talking more about Sully or more of his theories...


	10. 9 A Disturbed Night

Thanks for you comments. Here's the newest chapter. Please make my day and write a comment ;) 

Chapter 9 - A disturbed night

_'Why...why..?' _he kept on washing his hands. The skin was already red and pealed off at some places. But that didn't disturb him. He continued rubbing. He didn't turn on the light from the very beginning, to prevent his neighbors from seeing him standing there for hours. He saw her face in front of his eyes again and again. How she looked at him with surprise, not knowing how he got into her appartement. And then the blood all over the place. He had the syringe in his pocket the entire time. Just in case. He hadn't actually planned to use it. Only when it became necessary, he had grabbed in his pocket and had stabbed the syringe at her thigh. She had writhed...had fought until the end. Although he had only come because he wanted to watch her. He had been sick of staying in the wood and stare at her through her bedroom window. He had desired nothing more than standing in front of her. She wouldn't even have to see him. He was able to oppress his impulse for weeks. Until that one night, when he dared to break into her appartement and to wait for the moment when she'd come out of the bathroom again. And then everything had gone wrong. She had screamed. Had defended herself. And she had seen her face. He couldn't let her live. 

The nightly drive to the garbage dump had been pure torture. It hadn't been the first time that he was getting someone out of the way, but this time it was different. Something special. He knew her...in his way. He had only been capable of dismember her, because of his anger. Anger about her...and later about himself. 

When the phone next to the sink started to ring, the soap slipped out of his hands. With dripping hands he answered the phone. „What is it ?" he said harshly. 

„What is it!" the man on the other end yelled at him. „What the hell did you do? What did you think ! The flatfoots have found another dismembered body !"

For a second he was honestly puzzled. „How?"

„The news you idiot! Why do I know nothing about that ? You find another victim and don't let me play along !"

„She wasn't a new victim." he replied weakly. 

„Did you inject her Botox as well ?"

„Yeah, I had a syringe with me for all cases."

The caller sighed. „Let me guess,...you need a refill."

„Same spot as always ?" he asked hopefully and searched for the soap. 

„Tomorrow. As always...the next time you call me **before** you do something, understood !" 

Then the wire broke down. Just when he had found the soap in the dark his mood became bit by bit. 

Brennan was in the bathroom for a few minutes now and made herself ready for bed. Booth made use of this opportunity to look around in Brennans appartement a little better. She definitely owned more books than he had ever read. For his surprise he found a tv on a little table. Nothing big, but it satisfied his claims completely. As he was looking for the remote, his glance fell on something much more interesting. In one shelve, that was the closest to the couch, were several picture-frames. One foto showed Bones with her parents and her brother. The picture next to it really attracted his attention. It was exactly the same foto Booth had in his bureau. The Squints and him on the stairs. He directly next to her. So close...

The fact that he she had the same foto in her appartement let his heart make a jump. 

In that moment he heared how the door opened and saw Bones coming out of the bathroom in shorts and a top. He couldn't stop looking all over her. He had seen her in other outfits than her lab coat before a few times. Especially the dress she had worn during their performance as Roxy and Tony in Las Vegas he had been taken with. But even that had covered more of her legs than this. 

After a few seconds he cleared his throat and forced himself to look away. „Since when do you have a tv ?"

Brennan came closer and got the remote from under one of the pillows on the couch. „There was a report on gravesites in Peru I wanted to watch on Discovery Channel a few weeks ago." she replied and removed a strain of hair, that had fallen forward, from her face. Booth nervously licked his lips with. Brennan didn't seem to notice the nervousness of her partner and handed the remote over to him. 

„I'll prepare the guest room." she said and smiled, before she turned around and went into the guest room. Booth turned on the tv and sat down on the couch, but didn't actually notice what was shown on this channel. '_That can't be true. Your partner receives a card with blood on it and as soon as she leaves the bathroom in her shorts, you're losing control!'_ he thought and was still looking into the direction Bones left. He could hear how she shook the blanket and fluffed the pillows. 

Booth went through his hair with one hand and breathed out loud as Brennan came back into the living room. 

„The room's ready." she said, sat down on the armchair next to the couch and looked from the tv to Booth. „The mating habits of lions ? I didn't know you're interested in zoology."

Booth took a real look at the screen for the first time. He cleared his throat. „Ehm...yeah...you know Parker really digs it."

Brennan lifted her eyebrows. „Parker is interested in the mating habits of animals ? Wow, Booth, I know it's good to start early with sex education, but **this **early ?"

Booth couldn't stop himself from grinning. „Ehm..yeah...I actually planned to talk with Rebecca about it once more anyway."

Brennan stroke along her thighs as if she was freezing. „Well,...I'll go to bed now." she smiled at Booth. „Good night."

Booth smiled back. „Good night."

Brennan quietly closed the door to her bedroom behind her and laid into bed. She had been so tired this evening that she should actually sleep in in a second. Actually. 

After one hour of turning over and uncovering and covering again, she laid on her back and opened her eyes. She turned her head so that she could read the time on her alarm clock. 

_'3 am...great.' _she thought. She knew exactly why she couldn't sleep. And it had nothing to do with the rose in front of her door. Also the fact that Booth was sleeping in her guest room was only second-rate. She racked her brains about what Booth had said for hours. When he had told her the frist time, that he believed to be the reason why she didn't sail around the world with Sully, she simply blew her stack. To be honest she didn't know herself if Booth was right or not. She had argued with logical arguments. She had the job she always wanted, finally had friends, real friends...and Booth. But how important was he really to her ? More important than Sully? 

At first she figured Booths theory about her and Sully was pure arrogance. But now ? She thoroughly had noticed how Booth examined her, when she came out of the bathroom. And she would lie to herself if she'd deny liking it. Could it be...

She sighed and pulled the blanket away. She would not be able to sleep in so soon.

Booth didn't even try to close his eyes. Shortly after Bones had closed the door behind her, he had switched off the tv and had gone to bed as well. As a precaution he had put his weapon in the drawer of the bed stand. Brennan's guest room looked better than his own bedroom. But although the bed as so comfortable he didn't find calmness. He was worried. Brennan had been threatened before and he didn't like the ending it had taken at all. She didn't die, but got kidnapped. He had sworn himself that he won't let something like that happen ever again...and then Bones and Hodgins got buried alive. Failed again. Again he hadn't been able to protect her good enough. But not this time. He would move in here if it was necessary. _'She seems to have enough space anyway.'_ he thought. But this was not the only thing he was thinking about.

Bones in this outfit had thrown him out of gear completely. _'Damn, she's your colleague.'_ he remembered his dream again. It had been so wonderful...but it shouldn't be. How often did they both emphasized that there was a border between them. Too often for his liking. When he had told her about his assumption, that she had stayed in Washington because of him, he didn't say it to bicker her. He had hoped to himself that she would confirm it. 

Booth heard how the door to Bone's bedroom opened quietly and Bone's feet lumbered over the floor, past the guest room into the kitchen. Without thinking about it he got up...


	11. 10 A Disturbed Night Part 2

**Chapter 10 – A disturbed Night (Part 2)**

**Thanks for your comments. It's really encouraging to continue writing after receiving reviews like that. Thanks ! **

When Booth entered the kitchen, Brennan was sitting at the counter with a glass of water in front of her and starred at the table board.

„Can't sleep?" he asked quietly, what didn't prevent her from wincing before looking up.

„Not really." their eyes met shortly. Then she looked down again. „Too many thoughts."

Booth pulled a chair closer to the bar and sat down next to Brennan, who sat there like paralysed and starred at the board again.

As she remained silent after a minute, Booth cleared his throat, what pulled her at least that much out of her thoughts, that she turned to him. She laid down her left upper arm on the counter and placed her head on it.

„Do you want to talk ?" Booth asked and fought against the impulse to put his hand on her back at the same time. She looked so tired, that he honestly wondered, why she had had problems falling asleep.

„Not now." she replied almost not hearable and slowly closed her eyes.

„I think your bed would be much more comfortable than your kitchen." Booth grinned. But his smirk died, when Bones opened her eyes again, sat up and rubbed her forehead with one hand.

„ I know, but it didn't work in the last few hours." she sighed and supported her head with her hand.

Bit by bit Booth began to worry. Bones seemed to be everything but not relaxed. But if she doesn't want to talk with him, he couldn't force her to do so. That he had learned by now.

„Ok, come with me." He stood up and embraced his arms from behind. He made a move with his head that was supposed to tell her that he wanted to head for the living room.

It was probably because of her tiredness that she gave up protesting so soon and let Booth lead her to the couch. She sat down, while Booth arranged a few pillows and placed one on his lap. Brennan observed this and frowned. _What is he doing ?_

Booth answered her unspoken question by planting one arm around her and pulling her slowly close to him. Gradually she got an idea what he wanted from her.

„Bones, that's really not..."

„Shsh...it's alright. You almost fall asleep in the kitchen, but don't sleep in your bed for hours...I just want you to relax, ok ?" He continued exerting pressure on her side, until she sank down on the couch. Her head in his lap.

„You really don't have to..." she began and looked directly into Booth's eyes. He smiled.

„It's okay." He carefully ran his hand over her hair. Bones' eyes almost closed by themselves again...until she suddenly realised **who** was running his hand over her head and had made her feel so comfortable. But this relaxation vanished from one second to the other. His touch caused a hot burning on her skin. While he ran with one hand through her hair, he had laid his other hand on her belly. Without her noticing it...until now.

„Booth, what are you doing?" she looked in his eyes again.

Booth stopped, but let his hand on her hair. „Nothing...I just wanted to help. You said you didn't want to talk, so I thought..."

Bones got up fitfully, so that he had to remove his hands from her. She sat up right. Wasn't lying on his lap anymore, but stayed close.

Booth had noticed how she suddenly tensed up again. He didn't know why, but to press her now about what was going on, what he had done wrong, would only drive her nuts. Instead he folded his hands, leaned forward and supported his forearms on his legs.

Brennan pressed her lips together. Unsure, what to say or do. _Why was everything different today ? _

„Bones, I didn't want you to feel ...pressed somehow. Really not." he explained and turned his head to her.

„I didn't mean that." she replied calmly. „It's just..." she sighed. „Forget it. We're both tired. Let's drop it for today."

Booth leaned back again. He could tell that she definitely wouldn't continue speaking about it, even if he stayed persistent. But there were so many things he wanted to tell her.

„It's been a hard week."

„Yeah, the case becomes more and more complicated. We could identify the saw, but that doesn't really help us." Bones blabbed like a nervous school girl.

A grin appeared on his face again. „I actually didn't mean that."

„Oh." Brennan turned away her gaze. „What did you mean?"

„Mhm..for example your meeting with your father ? The card in front of your door ?" _and our conversation about Sully and you? _He only thought the last part. It was the last thing missing that he catered that one more time.

Brennan nodded. „Right." A smile flashed over her face.

„What?" Booth asked, who had completely turned to her now and had laid one arm casually on the back of the couch.

„My dad really believed we were going to marry. He thought we would be couple...and it seems like he believed this for a long time."

Booth laughed. If Bones hadn't been that tired, she surely would have realised that it was more a nervous laugh than that Booth really thought it was funny.

„Did he tell you that when you visited him?"

„That and a few more things." She had also turned to him by now. Although she virtually fled from him, she didn't wish anything more than just to lie down as she had done before.

Booth was startled. „What other things ?"

Bones cleared her throat to win some time. „ He told me about his arrest."

He didn't move any muscle. „You know he turned himself in."

„Mhm...right...but I didn't know that you two beat each other up before so that it would look more spectacular."

He coughed nervously. „ Okay...is this the moment when you remind me of behaving like a typical a-male ?"

„**Alpha**-male"

Booth sighed. „Why do you always have to correct me ?"

She smirked impishly. „Mhm...you're still able to learn and I didn't give up hope."

„Now look at that ! So I'm still lucky right ?"

Brennan could not but smile. If Booth kept looking at her like that she'd get a problem. And he wasn't much better.

After an embarrassing moment of silence, Booth grabbed at the remote.

„Want to find out if we're lucky ?" he raised one eyebrow questioningly

„Ok. Although I doubt that you can find high-class entertainment at this time of the night."

Booth pressed one button and the screen lighted up. „Who needs something educating at this time ?"

Bones was surprised. „ You like watching rubbish just because it's late ?"

He zapped through the programmes until he discovered a black-white movie. „There's something that's not so bad."

She looked at the screen and had to agree with him, although she noticed that this movie was almost dripping with kitsch. She just wanted to place a pillow between her back and the couch, as she felt Booth's arm on her side again.

„Just relax..I won't do anything. I only want you to be able to sleep." he looked at her encouraging.

At first she stayed steadfast, but gave way at last. She laid on her side, her head again on the pillow, his hand remained on her belly. It felt weird. They had hugged before, but he had never done something like tjat. He even got the blanket from the armchair and covered her carefully.

Bones was definitely too tired to protest, but one thing still bugged her.

„How well did you really know Rose ?"

Booth didn't move for a second. „Why do you want to know that?" he asked surprised.

„Just out of interest...did you flirt with her?" an insinuating undertone resonated in her voice.

„Maybe."

She froze shortly and breathed out the air, she had been holding in the entire time, after a few seconds.

„I'm sorry that she's dead, Booth." she said soundless.

For a few minutes both tried to follow the movie or at least acted like they would. Booth started again to run through her hair.

„Only that I flirted with her doesn't mean that I had planned to start a family with her." Booth broke the silence between them.

„Oh,...I thought you..."

„...might not flirt with someone just for fun ?" Booth finished her sentence.

She nodded barely noticeable. Booth smiled. They looked back at the TV, but none of them really followed the story.

Even though she would disclaim it in front of everyone, Bones couldn't deny that she was relieved. Relieved to know that Rose didn't mean anything to him. And not only because he was not grieving for a friend or even a girlfriend.

She slowly started to relax again. After a few minutes her eyes closed on their own. When her breathing had become calm and regular, Booth noticed that she had just fallen asleep on his lap. He was still smiling. No matter what Brennan would say or how she'd behave, her last question had revealed more of her to him that she had probably intended to...


	12. 11 A rude awakening ?

Chapter 11 – A rude awakening ?

Bones stretched her stiff limbs. She kept her eyes closed, until she suddenly hit something with her arms. Or more someone. She pulled her eyes open, just to discover Booth laying next to her. One of his arms was reached out in her direction, as if he had been holding her.

Bones got up slowly and tried not to wake up Booth, who still seemt to be asleep. As she could see it he only wore his boxershorts and the blanket only covered half of his body. Bones forced herself to look away and started to collect fresh clothes from her closet. She just wanted to go into the bathroom with the pack of clothes in her hand, when Booth sighed and turned around.

Bones stood still for a second, but when Booth didn't seem to move anymore, she put her plan into action and went with plodding steps to the bathroom.

_How the hell did we end up in my bedroom? _She asked herself. The last thing she remembered was her laying in Booths lap on the couch...he had to have carried her to her bed.

She did not with all the will in the world know what to thing of him deciding to lay down next to her. _Did he exploit the situation ? _

She turned on the water and stepped under the shower, when the water was warm enough. Usually she could relax while taking a shower, wash away the worries and problems of the day and stop thinking about everything. But this time she couldn't find this relaxation. All she was thinking about was how she could have ended up in bed with Booth...

Booth heard the water rush. He had to smirk at the thought of Bones under the shower. As often in the last time. He had woken up as Bones had turned away from him to the side and had begun to stretch herself one minute later. He had opened his eyes carefully, only to see, how Bones chose her clothes and starred at the upper part of his body a little longer than necessary.

Booth sat up slowly and rubbed his neck. He glanced around searching for his stuff, until he recurred that he changed his clothes in the guest room. The smile was almost burned in his face by now, as he remembered Bones falling asleep in his lap last night, how he had carried her into her bedroom and had laid her into bed.

Booth scuffled into the guest room and stepped in front of the chest of drawers next to the door. He closed the clock around his wrist, when his glance fell on the mirror at the wall. He took a step aside to have a better look at himself. _No surprise she had a hard time looking away._ He thought by the sight of his Snoopy Boxershorts. _God, how embarrassing. She's going to confront me with this forever!_ Booth gasped, turned to the drawer again and took his shirt.

He was closing his belt, when Bones opened the door to the bathroom and went into the direction of the guest room. She leaned against the door frame. She had switched the shorts and the shirt from last night into jeans and a top, that could have been plunging a little more in his opinion. _God, Booth, what are you thinking ?!_ he bit his lips.

„Slept well ?" he asked casually.

Bones crossed her arms behind her back and leaned against it.

„Yeah,..really good." she answered and looked at him expectantly.

Booth didn't miss that Bones had taken a defensive poise of body and avoided touching him in any way, when he stepped past her out of the room, as she stepped back, although it had not been necessary.

„What about breakfast?" Booth tried to loosen the atmosphere.

„I usually don't eat anything for breakfast. But you're free to have a look if you like anything." Bones replied distanced.

„Ok." Booth clapped his hands and went into the kitchen, where he first went through the fridge and then the cupboard until he decided to skip the food and drink a coffee. Bones was tyding up the blanket from last night and fluffing the pillows, just to do anything and not have to stand in the kitchen with Booth. At least it seemt to be like this for Booth. He had no idea, what caused this change of her attitude, so that she behaved almost as distanced as at their first working day together.

Booth pressed the button of the coffee machine. That someone could have a full automatic coffee machine at home, had always appeared unimaginable for him, except for millionaires. Bones surprised him again and again. With a humming sound the coffee poured into both cups, which Booth took in both hands afterwards and turned around.

He just stopped his moved reflexively just in time.

Without hearing her, Bones had come back into the kitchen and stepped behind him. One step closer and he would have spilled the hot coffee over her.

Both stood there like frozen. Only a few centimeters separated their faces from each other and their chests were so close together that they could feel the heart beat of the other one.

Booth wanted to put both cups on the counter, when the phone began to ring. Both awoke from their stiffness and Bones went at a smart pace to the phone.

„Brennan" she answered. Booth put down the cups and pressed his lips together, during observing Bones. She went from one side to the other while she was on the phone and removed a persistent strand of hair from her face. But her facial expression did not mean something good.

„Ok, we're there as fast as possible." she said. „ehm..yeah, Booth is here...we..yeah...I'll explain it to you later. Bye." she ended the call.

„There are some problems."

„Problems? What kind of problems ?"

Bones grabbed her purse, which was on the drawer next to the door and carelessly first threw her mobile and then her keys in it.

„Some information about our garbage-bag-case came through. It seems like the Jeffersonian is besieged by the press." Bones wrapped her bag around her shoulder.

„We should go now. Cam has announced a meeting."

Booth nodded and morosely poured the coffee into the sink...

Booth had not even reached the entry of the Jeffersonian yet, when he could already see the outside broadcast vas and several reporters standing on the street. It seemed like every tv station of Washington was there. The entrance was more or less full with people from the press.

Only by using the horn Booth could find a way through the camera men and reporter.

Bones kept on looking from Booth to the people outside and the other way around.

„Do you think it might help if you turn on your siren?" Booth asked half kidding and earned a punitive look by Brennan.

„Is that not called abuse of position ?"

Booth shook is head.„No, only adjustment to the local circumstances."

In the parking block Booth got the first spot he saw. He hadn't even unstrapped himself, when Bones jumped out of the car and went into the direction of the lift.

Booth closed the door loudly. If this day would go on like this, he would need a punch bag by lunch. He went after her, who was surrounded by some journalists, who had made it to the parking block.

„With what kind of saw were the bodies separated ?" - „How do we have to imagine the kiler?" - „Do we have to deal with a serial killer?" the questions of the reporters resounded from the walls.

Booth thought his way to Bones, who tried to get rid of one journalist after the other and to reach the lift. Booth lifted his hands defensively when some reporters started to pepper him with questions as well.

When he had arrived where Bones was standing, he put his hand supportively behind her back.

„I can't give you any information about this." Bones said to a younger journalist, who was holding a microphone in front of her mouth.

„Ok, let's just get out of here as quickly as possible." Booth whispered in her ear and pressed the button to call the elevator again and again.

„Dr. Brennan?" a woman called, but Bones made a protective gesture.

„No comment"

Booth pushed one camera man, who had gotten really close to Bones, slowly but determining away.

A quiet sound came from the elevator and Booth had never been this happy to hear it. He quickly stepped into the lift and pulled Bones with him by her arm. Before one reporter even got the idea of entering the elevator as well, Booth pressed the button to close the door and stood up in front of the lift so that no one could pass him.

The doors closed slowly, while questions were still called at Bones...


	13. 12 No actions without consequences

Chapter 12 - No action without consequences

Bones crossed her arms but did not say anything. Booth kept pressing his arms at both sides of the door as if now, while the lift was moving, a journalist could still pass him and enter the elevator.

"Ding" The doors of the lift opened sweepingly and they could see the floor of the lab in front of them.

Booth let his arms drop and stepped slowly out of the elevator, while Bones passed him in a hurry and rushed towards her bureau. She didn't wait for him, when she stormed up the stairs and did not even slow down, as she had to avoid some assistents who were standing in the middle of the way and talked.

Booth sighed, but didn't pick up speed. When he had reached her office, he leaned against the door frame and watched Bones, who walked around the room like a flushed chicken, sorting files, checking something in the computer, only to stand up again and get some documents from another cabinet.

Booth put his hands in his pockets and looked so relaxed, as if the confrontation with the press a few minutes ago did not account him at all. Bones was driven nuts even more by this. It was bad enough that there was obviously someone who sold information about their case to the press, no, now her partner behaved like nothing had happened as well.

She knew exactly that he was observing her. She could feel his glance at her back, while she collected the results of several tests, but right now she didn't feel like starting a conversation with him. She had to think about what had happened last night before that.

As she seemed to have everything together, she let herself drop onto the chair in front of her computer and leaned back. Booth hadn't moved a centimeter and looked at her directly when she lifted her eyes.

"Calmed down again?" Booth asked and grinned impishly.

Bones breathed in deeply first, in order not to explode immediately. "The meeting is in half an hour. I still have to go through everything we have on this case before."

Booth nodded, but did not seem to get or want to get the broad hint.

„Could you..." Bones made a move with her hand, which was supposed to tell him to leave.

Booth pushed himself from the door frame and went to the couch. He shortly pointed at it and said "You won't even know I'm here."

With this words he sat down on the couch, leaned back and closed his eyes.

Bones couldn't believe it. With a shake of her head she turned her attention to the file again and started to take some notes. She looked up from time to time and glanced over to Booth, who kept his eyes closed.

After about 10 minutes Angela knocked at the door. Bones looked up and smiled for the first time since she had arrived at the Jeffersonian, when she saw her friend. Angela didn't return the smile and pointed at the motionless Booth instead.

"Booth?!" Angela said loud and caused that Booth winced and opened his eyes.

"What...oh..hi Angela."

Angela smiled at him. "Hi, ...ehm...would it be a problem for you to leave us alone for a sec ?"

"Mhm..no, not at all." He got up and left the bureau, not without earning an enraged gaze from Bones. At the thought about how much she got enraged that he followed Angelas plea immediately, but stayed when she had asked him to go, let him grin.

Angela slowly sat down in front of Bones, who noisily closed the file.

"This can't be true!"

Angela crossed her legs and looked at her friend with surprise. "What's wrong ?"

"Booth!" Bones started to gesture wildly. "A few minutes ago I told him to leave and he stayed. Now you come in, ask the same and he leaves within a second !"

„Well, honey, maybe you have to become more dominantly." replied Angela, not without an undertone.

Brennan sighed and shook her head again. Then she took a better look at Angela for the first time, since Booth had left. She had never been good at noticing moods from other persons or knowing how to behave, but something in Angelas face told her that something was wrong.

"Ange?" Angela avoided Brennan's glance, when she looked at her suspiciously. Then she took a deep breath.

"The private investigator Hodgins had hired found him.§

Bones pushed the file to the side and bowed forwards. "And? Did you talk to him?"

Angela stopped avoiding her. " I didn't. But Hodgins' lawyer." she tilted her head to the side. "He doesn't agree to the divorce."

Astonishment was displayed on Brennan's face. "He doesn't want to get divorced although you neither live with him nor did you see him since the wedding?" she asked disbelieving.

Angela had grimaced by the word "wedding" as if she was reminded of torturous pain. "That's exactly how it looks like. And now I have a fiancé, who already had to let our perfect wedding fall through and a husband on the paper who holds on to our wedding. Brilliant, isn't it ?" Angela tried to be funny, but even Bones realized that it was everything but funny.

Brennan crossed her arms and supported herself on the desk. "What are going to do now?"

"Mhm...good question." she shifted her weight to the left side to pull a fotograf out of her right pocket. "I wanted to call him and talk about it, but Hodgins was against it."

Bones took the picture that Angela had pushed over the table and took a closer look at it. The man on the fotograf seemed to be a little bit older than Booth, was sportive and his posture was suggestive of him getting being used to get everything he wanted. As she noticed herself comparing him to Booth she quickly gave the picture back to Angela.

Angela didn't seem to have noticed Brennans sudden change of mood and put the picture back in her pocket without a word.

"Why was he against it ?" Bones asked and fought against the confusion of her own actions at the same time.

"Mhm... it seems to be man's business to talk with the current husband of your fiancé." Angela replied.

Bones lifted her eyebrows critically.

"Although I rather believe that he doesn't want me to see him again." Angela continued.

"Why? What should.." Bones fell silent when it began to dawn on her what Hodgins might be afraid of. "He thinks you would...with him ?"

Angela folded her hands in her lap. "In his opinion there had to be a reason why I went through this ceremony with this guy. Even if I did not know how serious this really had been in the end."

Bones thought of the fotograf of the man again. "Are his reservations legitimated ?" she asked, not without remembering the trained arms of the man.

Angela looked her her with a perplex expression on her face. "No! Of course not. I told Hodgins that I was definitely more than just mellow that evening."

In that moment Booth knocked at the door. "Sorry, ladies, but Cam wants to start with the meeting."

Bones and Angela looked at each other for a second. Then both stood up calmly and Bones grabbed the file. Booth waited for them before he turned around and walked towards the meeting room.

Angela and Bones followed at small distance. Bones bended over to Angela to whisper something in her ear. "Well, I would not have needed the alcohol with this guy."

Angelas lower jaw dropped down by astonishment. When she saw Bones wide grin, she shook her head laughing.

„Brennan, you're unbelievable."

Booth seemed to have heard their whispering and turned around while walking and looked at them questioning. "What..?"

Angela and Bones did their best to look as innocent as possible. „Nothing." Bones said, pressed her lips together and opened the file in her hand to avoid looking at Booth directly.

In the meeting room Angela and Bones sat down in front of themselves, Booth pushed himself past Zack to get the seat next to Bones and pointed at the left seat next to Hodgins, to shoo away Zack, who actually wanted to sit down on this seat.

Bones put down the file on the table and went through the pages which she knew by heart by now.

Booth leaned over to her. "When are planing to start to behave normal again around me ?" he said as quietly as possible, so that the other scientists, who kept entering the room, could not hear it.

Bones acted like she hadn't heard him for a moment. Then she turned to him. "I don't know what you mean." she said.

Booth wanted to reply something, when Cam rushed into the room, closed the doors behind her and built herself up in front of the table. All seats were taken, although the number of attendants had been hold as low as possible.

Cam stemmed her arms onto her hip. „Well, people,...I doubt that someone did not see the reporters in front of the building..."


	14. 13 Blood ?

Calm and regularly he pressed the content of the canula under the skin. He felt how her pulse accelerated, when he pulled the needle out of her skin and took the blood coming out of the wound with a cotton pad. Her face showed several punctures, which became red and redder by the time. At some spots rests of blood were visible, that oozed out of the wounds.

"Damn" he swore, as he pulled the needled out of the skin for another time and the bleeding didn't stop as soon as before. He pressed the cotton pad harder on the skin, when he noticed that the woman started to move disturbingly.

"Don't worry, I just hit a vein, it will stop in a second." He said with a lulling voice. He took the pad away and checked if there was still blood dripping out of the puncture. When the seeping seemed to have stopped he put down the syringe, threw the needle in the trash and took a seat again.

By hearing this noise, the patient had opened her eyes again which she had hold close during the whole treatment.

"So, that's it" He said and waited for her to stand up and to leave the room. Still a little dizzy the patient arose slowly and shook the hand of the doctor.

"Thank you."

"You'll receive the bill during the next week. " He replied cold and interrupted her, who still wanted to say something. "Don't forget to get an appointment for the aftertreatment at reception." _And to pay the damn bill..._He kept the last part to himself. But if she did not leave the room soon, he would throw her out with his own hands.

Finally the door closed behind her and he breathed out loud. It seemed like nobody wanted to leave quickly today. Everyone is so keen on doing Smalltalk...they had no idea how much they antagonized him.

He almost banged the door closed when he stepped out on the floor. There were still patients cavorting in the waiting room, although it was already after 5 pm and he actually wanted to go home.

The assistant at reception was holding the next file in her hand. "Mr. Kline...liposuction." she murmured. But he was used to her unclear way of speaking and lame operation method.

He took the file and went towards surgery 3, where Mr. Kline was already waiting for him.

Cam collected her files and notes. The meeting was finished just a few minutes ago and most scientists had already left the room whispering. Dr. Brennan and Booth were standing together next to the table and talked quietly.

Cam could not understand everything they were saying, but the words „with me", „sleep" and „rose" made it to her ear clearly. She knew that the fact, that the thing between Booth and her, which she didn't actually want to call relationship, was over. But if Booth really started something with Dr. Brennan…she didn't know what to think of it. Already the fact, that these word pieces let her listen attentively, surprised her.

Dr. Brennan pushed herself past Booth, who was still talking to her and walked towards the door. Booth followed her immediately and just wanted to say something, when his glance met Cam's, who had looked up by now and was observing them obviously.

Booth froze for a moment, just to say „Bye, Cam" and run after Dr. Brennan, who was at in the lead at least for 30 m.

Cam needed a minute to collect her thoughts. _What was that? Was it even embarrassing for Booth when she could hear his conversations with Dr. Brennan?_ Although she should actually concentrate on the leak in the Jeffersonian, but her thoughts circled around something totally different...

Bones stormed in her office, got her bag from the floor and pretty much threw it on the stool. When Booth entered the room, she was going through her purse until she had the rose and the card in the plastic bag in her hand.

„I don't think this is a good idea, if you…" started Booth.

"Booth, it's only a rose!" Bones interrupted him and looked at him frowning her forehead.

Booth sighed. "I wasn't talking about the rose." He pointed at the flower, which had some thorns, but had not been the reason for his concern.

„Oh." Bones dropped her hand with the rose uncertainly. "I...I have to bring this to Hodgins..maybe he can.." she pointed at the door several times and took a step towards Booth. Booth made just enough space for her so that she could pass him. But then he braced his arms against the door frame, so that Bones was pinned between him and the door frame.

„Booth, what..?" She looked directly into his eyes and he could she the emerging anger in her eyes.

"I don't want you to be alone. Not now. Not after..." he pointed at the rose.

Bones looked away. "You can't quarter at my apartement only because someone is leaving a rose in front of my door!"

Booth loosened his posture a little but did not make the way free. "It won't be for long. Only one or two days."

Bones turned to him indignantly. "One or two days ?!"

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "Just until grass has grown over this."

"Do you know how long it takes grass to grow? It could take weeks!"

Booth grinned at this answer. "Proverb, Bones...it's a Proverb."

Bones pushed Booth's arm aside outraged, so that she became free and could pass him. He was looking after her with a smile. _Bones always took everything by word, but this? Was it possible that the prospect of him sleeping over at her place again make her nervous ? _Booth didn't know. But he liked the thought that this could be the reason for her reaction.

"WOW" Hodgins called out, when Bones showed him the rose. "Who gave you this beautiful rose ?" he asked mischievously.

Bones laid the plastic bag with the card on one of the lab tables. "No idea. But I'm acutally more interested with what this card was written."

Hodgins frowned his forehead, took the bag in his hand and looked at it. "Looks like..." He looked at Bones, who nooded affirming.

„I will test a part of this card with luminole-solution." He went to the chemical cabinet and got a small barrel with a liquid out of it. "Was the rose with the card ?"

Bones leaned back against one of the tables and crossed her arms in front of her. "Both laid in front of my front door."

Hodgins stopped his move. "Does Booth know about this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, and he's totally overreacting." Bones grabbed the scissors and cut of a piece of the card.

Hodgins pulled a pipette out of the box, opened the barrel and dribbled a few drops of the solution on the paper. "Really?" he threw the pipette in the trash and went to the computer to turn off the lights. "If someone would leave such a card in front of Angela's door..."

Bones stepped closer. "Yeah, but you and Ange are a couple...Booth and I...we.."

Hodgins turned around. " I don't think this makes any difference to him."

Both looked at each other for a moment. Then Bones' glance went down and she saw the blue-white luminescent spots on the paper.

Hodgins gasped. "The test is positive."

Bones sighed and frowned her forehead. "Someone wrote on the card with blood."


	15. 14 For you it should rain red roses

**Chapter 14 – For you it should rain red roses…..**

Cam hold up the pipette with the test solution and gave it into a forthcoming small bottle. In front of her was a whole lineup of more filled bottles. All of them contained different blood reference solutions.

She closed the bottle and carried it together with the others to the HPLC system. One by one she put into the auto sampler and chose the testing method on the computer.

When she looked up from the screen, she saw Booth storming down the stairs and rushing in her direction. Cam just prepared herself to say something, when he pulled out his phone while passing her.

Cam froze for a second. _What was that? _She asked herself.

But a high peep tone pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Shit!" she swore, as she noticed that she had forgotten to put flux material in the HPLC system. She hectically pressed the button to stop the test. Then she removed the column from the machine. _Great….and now everything again from the start…._

Bones displayed the file in front of her. She was sitting on the couch; the results of all examinations on the body and at the scenes were on the table.

But as often as she looked at the documents and photos she didn't get a clue out of it. The fact that the card had been written with blood had puller her from track more than she had admitted to Booth.

She knew that he was angry. Angry because she didn't let him protect her. She had never needed someone for years and would not need him now….at least she told herself that.

Bones looked at the watch. It would take at least 4 hours until Cam had the results from the blood test. Hodgins had found out that it was blood, but the luminol test could not give any information if it was human blood or not.

Bones sighed and let her head fall against the backrest.

Booth rushed through the streets. He knew he was going to fast, but who would stop an FBI agent? This damn card was really written with blood.

Booth had already worried enough about Bones. But this topped everything there had been before. When Bones had told him in her calm objective way that Cam was comparing the blood sample with the blood of the victims in the garbage bag cases, he had to fight against the impulse to close Bones in a safe, if that protected her.

Booth blew the horn when a truck changed the lane and forced Booth to break. The truck made way slowly and Booth could accelerate again.

He drove through the city until he stopped with squeaky wheels in front of his apartment.

Bones rose up when she heard the knock at her door. Hodgins came in her office and was holding several computer prints in her hand.

Bones rubbed her eyes tiredly. Her glance fell on the clock. She almost couldn't believe she had slept in. One hour and a half had passed since then, but the blood test could not be finished yet.

She looked up to Hodgins questioningly, who seemt to have waited for her to gather herself. He gave her the papers in his hand.

"This rose that came with the card…I knew I had seen it before."

Bones inspected the photo of the rose, which looked exactly like the one she had found in front of her door. "And ?"

„This kind is really rare. To be exact it's a cross of the Widen and the Burgunder Rose. "

When Bones looked at him even more incomprehensible as before, he sighed. "The name of this rose is **Widenbourgh**."

Bones was hit by these words like a slap in the face. _Widenbourgh…exactly like the last name of the second victim…_She didn't need the results of the blood test anymore. She already knew whose blood it was on the card….

Bones switched of the light of the car. After Hodgins had been in her office she had talked with Cam about it. The HPLC test would still take a few hours, but Bones was too tired to wait for the confirmation of her expectations.

She had already been a little nervous in the garage of the Jeffersonian and also here, in the garage of her apartment, it was not better. The first time this day she regretted sending Booth away like this.

Bones tried to remember the single moves from several martial art and self-defense courses she had taken, while walking towards the elevator.

The doors closed slower than usually. Or did she just imagine it?

And there it was again. This strange feeling of not being alone. She looked for the key to her apartment, when her glance fell on something in front of her door.

"Does it always take you this long from the lift to your door?" asked Booth who was leaning cool against the wall.

Bones shook her head unbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

Booth pointed at the bag on the floor. "How does it look like?"

"I said no!" Bones replied outraged.

Booth stood up right and took a step closer to Bones. "Yes, but this was before we knew who had given you the rose."

Bones tilted her head. "Where…?"

"Hodgins." He pulled his phone out of his bag.

Bones sighed. She turned towards the door and opened it. Booth lifted his bag and followed her into the apartment. Bones threw a critical glance at the bag.

"For how long did you pack?"

Booth shrugged. "Mhm…if it's not enough, I can still get some more from my place."

Bones rolled her eyes. That was exactly the sentence she didn't want to hear…..


	16. 15 The new Roommate

**15. Kapitel - The new roommate**

Bones stood in the kitchen and stirred the sauce. Booth was in the guest room, unpacking his bag. Only the thought that Booth was making himself home in her apartment, made her nervous. He was her colleague…but since when do colleagues move in with you?!

Bones moved around the kitchen without thinking about what she was doing. She had never shared an apartment with somebody. This was a situation, she was avoiding since her time as a foster kid.

Even at college she had done everything not to have to share an apartment with someone.

"Well, what delicious are we're going to eat?" Bones winced by his Booth's voice. She put down the wooden spoon on the sideboard and turned around, while rubbing her hands at a tea towel.

"Vegetable Lasagne."

"Mhm…"he grinned, as if he had not noticed Bones hectic movements. Booth sat down on the chair at the dinner table, but kept his eyes on her. He reached for the newspaper from this morning, that was still folded on the table and started to turn the pages unenthusiastically. He lifted his eyes to watch what she was doing again and again.

Bones had concentrated on the food again and was layering the noodle plates, the vegetables and the sauce in the pan. When she turned around, she caught him starring at her, as if he was thinking about something.

"What is it?" she looked at him questioningly.

Booth shook his head. "Mhm…nothing."

Bones hesitated to lay the towel out of her hand and sat down at the table as well. She supported her head with her hands and watched Booth expectantly.

"What do you usually do in your free time?" Booth asked and put the newspaper away after all.

Bones leaned back. "I read, continue working on my new novel…"

Booth nodded. "Well, then you're going to do just this right now."

Bones couldn't hide her surprise. "What?"

"Just act as if I'm not here." Booth said, placing his legs on the chair next to him for which he earned such a displeased look by Bones that he quickly put them back on the floor.

Bones sighed. "Ok." She got up and went tot he living room, where she turned on her computer and opened the file with the last chapter she had been working on. She looked around briefly, to check if Booth had followed her and saw him coming out of the guest room with a book in his hand. Without deigning to look at her, he took a seat in the armchair, opened the book which title Bones wasn't able to see and started reading.

Bones hesitated a moment, then she went through the last sentences of her chapter again, to re-enter the story before she began typing. Then only the sound of the keyboard and the clicking clock filled the silence.

After a few minutes Bones lifted her eyes, as if she'd feel observed and checked if Booth was still in his seat. Booth noticed this after a while and looked at her with a grin on her face the next time she was doing it again.

"What's wrong?"

Bones looked at him. „I don't like this."

Booth put the book away. "Why not? I tried to be as quiet as possible."

Bones pressed her lips together. "I don't mean that….I …I don't feel comfortable with this."

For a moment she could she the honest shock in his face.

"Uncomfortable? ..Why?" Booth asked obviously irritated.

She sighed. "I just can't work like this…not with you here."

„I'm disturbing you? I could stay in the guest room."

Bones shook her head. "That wouldn't help."

Booth was completely confused by now. „It's impossible for you to hear me, when I stay in there and am quiet!"

She sighed. "It's not that….I'm writing a…mhm.."

The realization hit him like a slap in the face. "A sex scene ?"

She did not even have to nod. The redness that had appeared in her face confirmed his assumption good enough. He laughed.

„What? Is this embarrassing for you?" he stood up and tried to take a look at the computer screen, but Bones closed the notebook quickly.

"Booth, I can't write something like this when you're sitting next to me!"

He got up and sat down as close next to her as possible. Then he leaned over to her.

"Well, it isn't like as if I had not read the last ones…and wow…I really had not expected you to like something like that!" He was amused by seeing the change of surprise to blank horror in the expression on her face.

"No! Only because I write it, it doesn't mean that I…"

Booth nodded his head and pursed his lips. "Sure, Bones."

Bones prepared herself fort he next reply, when the alarm went off loudly and told them that the food was ready.

She got up and passed Booth without another word, to get the Lasagne out of the oven. Booth stood up slowly as well and went to the dinner table.

He was still smiling, when Bones came with the Lasagne and put it down on the table. Booth undertook the task to cut it and split it on the two plates. He handed her the plate winking.

"So that you have enough energy to continue your writing!"

Bones opened her mouth out of indignation, but didn't say something to him. Instead she looked at him frowning.

With a clapping sound Bones put the plates on the sideboard. Booth stood in the kitchen with the tea towel in one hand and dried the last plate.

"What do you think of watching TV later?" he attempted to reconcile with her, as she had ignored him as far as possible since his last comment. Bones had noticed his compliment for the lasagne, but had not reacted more to that.

Bones cleaned the pan with care. "Ok, but no documentations on the mating habits on animals, anymore."

Booth almost dropped the plate because he had to laugh that hard. He bit his tongue, in order not to give away another comment.

She turned her head to him and had to laugh by his sight herself. "If you drop the plate, you're going to buy me a new one!"

He glanced at her and saw the smile in her face. _Congratulations, Booth….you barely saved your ass now, _he thought.

Booth stepped behind Bones, to shelve the plate in the rack above her, and stretched his arm out , when Bones turned around.

"Woah"

She seemed not to have noticed that he was standing right behind her and he had stopped her move with his arm on her hip. He let his other arm drop slowly against the closet door, but did not take the other away from her hip.

Bones did not lean back, but stood still. Booth was so close to her, that she could feel his muscles through his shirt. He removed a strain of hair from her face and Bones felt her skin burn where his fingers had touched her face.

Booth cleared his throat after a few seconds. "Whatever you want."

He stepped back and took the dripping pan from the sideboard to dry it as if nothing had happened.


	17. 16 Nightly disturbance

**16 – Nightly disturbance**

Booth or flipped from one channel to the other. Bones had gone into the bedroom half an hour ago. Now there was only Booth and a lonely man's best friend, the television.

Although Bones could receive more channels than Booth ever had, no program really caught his attention. He watched the first minutes of a report about identity theft, switched to a Spanish soap opera, which depicted the drama of an affair between an elder woman and a teenager, he was quickly fed up with and finally found the sports channel.

"Nothing better than a good hockey game." He leaned back and let his head fall on the backrest with his legs on the table. He had to smirk at the thought of what Bones would say about it.

Bones had been quiet for most of the evening and she had seemed overly rushed to get to bed.

_Maybe I've really gone too far,_ he thought and only thinking about how they had been standing in front of each other in the kitchen felt warmth fill him. Only a few millimeters and they would have….

_What is wrong with me? _Booth tried to concentrate on the game on screen but that appeared impossible after everything that had happened in a more symbolic rink after rink this evening.

He knew it would not be easy to live with her but the possibility that someone might stalk her or do something to her while he was peacefully sleeping in his apartment, was unbearable for him.

Booth turned down the volume and listened for some noise from the bedroom.

_Was she already sleeping?_

He was tired and would most likely sleep in on the couch if he did not go into the guestroom. But he was sure how hard it would be for him to find some rest when he was finally in bed.

_Should I talk with her again? Clear everything up?_

He rubbed his forehead. _And what should I say to her? …I know we're only colleagues, but tonight I wanted to kiss you?_

Their psychiatrist sure would have liked that one.

The sudden ringing of the phone pulled him out of his thoughts. He hurried to answer it before Bones woke up from the ringing.

"Hello?" he answered and already heard the door to the sleeping room open.

"Agent Booth?" asked a surprised voice on the other end.

"Ehm.." he saw Bones coming towards him with a questioning look on her face.

"Yes, it's Agent Booth."

"Good we got you both. We have a case"

The headlights lit up when the black jeep left the dirt road. Quickly he jumped in the bushes. He knew it was dangerous to stay longer than necessary, but the temptation was too big.

To see one time how they work, how they turned every piece over and studied his work.

When he had told Ray that he didn't want to drive back to the city with him, Ray called him a fool. He was angry, didn't understand his wish to observe everything.

Ray was simply a coward. He didn't know the thrill, wasn't addicted to the adrenaline.

The jeep flew past him. He remained in the bushes. When he could not hear the noise of the wheels on the grit anymore he stepped out of the thicket.

With a smile on his face he lit a cigarette he had pulled out of his trousers pocket. With a feeling of satisfaction he walked along the way. Away from the crime scene. Away from the forensic unit, the FBI and the first reporters who appeared like vultures as soon as there was a new murder.

Booth parked the jeep in the middle of the path. Cars from other FBI agents, the local police and reporters blocked the way in front of him. Booth and Bones fought their way through the parked cars in direction of the lights illuminating the crime scene.

_Not again, _Booth thought, he still remembered the last night he and Bones had been called to a crime scene in the middle of the night.

One man from the forensic unit took the first pictures of the body. Booth didn't even see the body at first. He only saw several agents standing in a circle around something and the flash of the camera.

Bones pushed her way past them and didn't introduce herself until one agent held her back. Booth raised an eyebrow smiling when Bones held her ID under the agent's nose and the agent let her go immediately.

"Excuse me, but you can't just…"

Bones ignored him and stepped closer to the remains before hunkering down. Booth followed her slowly and greeted the other FBI agents with a nod before directing his gaze to what Bones was looking at.

"Is this?"

Bones nodded. „A person? Yes…at least what's left ."

She opened her bag, pulled out tweezers and carefully held up a splinter of bone. All bones had been fragmented in pieces of the same size. Bones walked around the accumulation of splinters.

"Looks like someone has scattered the….parts."

He swallowed.

Bones looked around the scene, a few yards away someone from the forensic unit held up a blue garbage bag.

"Booth." Bones pointed in the direction with her finger.

He turned around.

"Oh god."

"He lives with you?" Angela asked in astonishment.

"Wow, I didn't realize you two were moving so fast."

"Angela!" Bones replied smiling while checking her emails on the computer.

Angela sat on the chair in front of Bones' desk and watched, amused, as her friend fidgeted under her scrutiny.

"Come on! As if you never think about it! Especially now that he's sleeping next door. " Angela smiled and looked at Bones knowingly. "Or is the wall between you two already missing?"

Bones was too surprised for a moment to answer.

"Excuse me? What?...No there is a door between us. Two to be exact."

Angela dropped her shoulders in disappointment.

"Sweetie, say whatever you want. But don't try to act as if you don't think about the fact that a hot FBI agent moved into your place."

Bones turned away from the computer.

"You think Booth is hot?" She raised one eyebrow questioningly. "What would Hodgins say about that?"

"Mhm…he knows."

Bones opened her mouth in surprise.

Cam knocked against the open door.

"The bone splinters are here."

Bones got up and walked to the platform, while Angela followed.

"Well, if I was in your shoes…"

"Angela, we work together and he doesn't live **with** me, he only stays overnight in the guest room.", Bones whispered while walking.

"Well then let's hope that he gets out of the guest room soon."

"Who should be coming out of the guest room?" Booth asked when he met both of them on the stairs.

Angela and Bones froze for a second.

"Ehm…no one…ehm..Angela!...Angela wants to renovate the guest room and.." Bones tried to save the situation and pointed to Angela with her hand.

Angela nodded a little too quickly.

"Eh..yes and Jack just can't decide which color he likes better. We still have to talk about so many things."

Bones pulled her card through the scanner and entered the gallery. Zack was already positioning the bones on the examination table.

Booth rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then followed Angela and Bones up the platform.


	18. 17 Right here in my arms

Bones hunkered over the bone splinters on the examination table. Cam, Booth, Hodgins, Zach and Angela were standing around her and watched her put some pieces aside and take a tray in her hand.

Carefully, she laid the splinters on the tray. Booth stepped closer and looked over her shoulder. When Bones turned her head to him and looked at him with raised eyebrows he shrugged his shoulders and took a step back again.

Bones concentrated on the bone fragments again and handed the tray to Zach when she was satisfied with the collection she had made.

"That's everything that's left from the skull. You can start with reconstruction right away."

Zach looked skeptically at the tray.

"Really? This is it?" Angela asked dumbfounded.

Bones removed the gloves with a smacking sound.

"Well, from what I can find from first sight."

Cam cleared her throat. "I'm no bones expert…"

"No, you're not." Bones ascertained.

Cam nodded shortly. "…But from the looks of it the body was pushed through a wood chipper." Hodgins nodded while Angela stood next to him and swallowed hard.

Bones nodded her head in agreement.

"But the flesh was taken off before." She turned to Hodgins. "Maybe we can still find traces of an acid on the bones. At least they look unnaturally clean. My scientific opinion is that the flesh was removed via an acid bath rather than manually removed."

Hodgins put a few of the splinters on another tray

and examined them closely before taking them with him.

Cam and Angela left slowly as they were not needed for the moment and Angela didn't think she could stand the sight of bone splinters anymore. The coarse-fragmented bodies they had been made to work on in the last weeks had been bad enough, but this was just barbaric.

Bones turned to Booth who had been standing a little distant from her. After more than a year of working with her he still felt misplaced in the lab.

"I have to examine the splinters more precisely, it will take a while." She said to Booth who looked at her expectantly and quickly made room when she was reached for the forceps behind him.

Booth rubbed his hands together.

"So what exactly does 'a while' mean?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe 4 or 5 hours."

"4 or 5 hours?"

"Yeah, it could take longer."

Booth was flabbergasted.

"Okay…so it's my turn to cook tonight."

But Bones wasn't really listening anymore.

"Good…see you later."

Booth watched her starting to look at the splinters under a microscope for a minute then he erase turned and left her alone.

Bones could already hear music at the front door when she was searching for her key.

"_and she'll be right here in my arms so in looooove" _floated through the door and down the hall.

She opened the door, put her purse on the little table on which her mail was already waiting for her. Bones could smell food simmering on the stove but it was the loud music that caught her attention first.

Booth was standing in the kitchen but did not seem to have heard her. She noticed him not only swaying from one side to the other but also singing along.

Booth turned as he belted out the lyrics to the song and was surprised to see Bones standing in the kitchen

"Hey!" he passed her quickly and turned down the volume. Booth had tossed a dishrag over his shoulder, and for all appearances he looked as if he had been slaving over a hot stove all day.

Bones gave him an appreciative look."

"Wow, you really went all out."

Booth smiled and went back into the kitchen. Bones followed him and tried to get a look into the pot, but Booth hit her lightly on the finger as soon as she reached for the cover.

"No spying!"

Bones made a face that was so close to a pout that it made Booth grin.

"Go into the living room while I'm cooking." He said determinedly

She agreed and let herself fall on the couch.

_When was the last time someone was cooking for me and didn't __expect any sort of payment __afterwards?_ She couldn't remember.

After a few minutes he came out of the kitchen and sat down next to her.

"And? Found something"

"What?"

"Did you find anything else on the bone shards?"

"Oh"

Bones took a deep breath.

"The bones have been carved, or chopped into pieces. Hodgins is trying to determine with what, exactly, using trace evidence."

"Hard day hm?"

Bones nodded.

"Zach is still at the lab. He wants to finish the reconstruction as soon as possible, but it will take days, if not even weeks."

She exhaled and looked into Booth's eyes.

"The identification will take forever, if it's even possible.

Booth realized for the first time how discouraged she looked.

"I went through the missing person reports. There are young women who have gone missing in the last few weeks by the dozen."

Bones nodded.

"Booth, we don't even know if it's a woman yet."

He swallowed. It was the first of they many cases they had solved together that Bones did not have even those simple clues. He knew exactly how much it was depressing her.

They remained silent for a while, then Booth clapped his hands and threw the towel back on his shoulder.

"Dinner should be ready by now."

He stood up and checked the chili in the pot before ladling it into two plates.

Bones sat down at the dinner table and gave Booth a smile when he came with the food.

Bones' eyes gradually started to close, Booth and her had moved to the couch after dinner and turned on the TV. After a few minutes in which Booth had flipped from one program to the other they stopped at an old black-white movie.

"_Honey, you can't go now!" _a woman cried hysterically.

Booth had laid his arm on the backrest of the couch and his hand had been sliding down until it was lightly touching Bones shoulder. The contact worried her in the beginning, but after a while she liked it, which was not worrying her less. For a moment she had even regretted to having bought such a narrow couch because they were sitting so close together that she had started to feel cold every time Booth stood up to get something to drink.

When the credits were flickering on the screen Bones rubbed her eyes and stood up slowly, supporting herself with her hand on the couch.

Booth switched off the TV and put the remote back on its place when Bones tried to pass him. But it remained a try. Tired as she was, she didn't noticed that her foot had gone dead until she made a step to the side. She turned her ankle and she fell straight on Booth who could only just catch her with his arms.

"Okay…usually I don't allow woman to sit on my lap so soon." Booth grinned to such an extent that Bones burst into laughter. He had not only caught her but also pulled her on his lap. She leaned against him until she realized whom she was sitting on.

She cleared her throat.

"Ehm…my foot…" she rubbed her ankle. Booth followed her hand with his eyes and looked back at her with worry in his eyes.

"..seems to have gone dead."

Booth had his hand on her back which Bones noticed now that he started to stroke her back.

"Do you think you can walk? Or should I…?"

Bones shook her head a little to quickly.

"No, you don't have to. It'll go."

Booth was holding her while he bent forward and palpated massaged her ankle. Bones observed what he was doing and moved forward a little bit as well. So far that both almost collided when Booth sat upright again.

His lips were so close to hers that they almost touched. Suddenly they heard a quiet hum.

"Booth? Your pants are vibrating and I really hope it's your phone."

"Oh," Booth quickly pulled the phone out of his pocket but did not push Bones from his lap.

"Hello?"

Bones watched him and tried to find out who was calling so late.

"Hmm…yeah alright, I'll tell her." He ended the call and looked at her.

"It was Hodgins. He could identify the type of cutting mechanism. We'll pick him up tomorrow and drive to a steel factory that has such a machine." He said to Bones who tried hard to stand up without falling again.

"Okay…I will…go to my bedroom." She made a few insecure gestures.

Booth nodded.

"Yeah, me too…I mean the guestroom… I will go to the guestroom." He cleared his throat and looked after Bones who carefully went to the bedroom.

He missed the warmth coming from her already.


	19. 18 Action, steel and blood

**chapter 18 - action, steel and blood**

Hodgins was already waiting for them in front of the Jeffersonian with his hands in his pockets. Booth turned the jeep and waited for Hodgins to get in.

"Good morning!" Hodgins said enthusiastically, as he fastened his seat belt and clapped his hands. "Ready for some action?"

Bones turned to him.

"Action? We're going to a steel factory, Hodgins. I find it hard to imagine a film crew working there."

Booth shook his head. He had to fight a grin.

"Bones, I don't think he meant that."

Bones looked at Booth when he directed the car onto the main road.

"He did not?" then it dawned on her. "Oh, you meant it as doing something!"

Hodgins just nodded and rubbed his hands together. Booth watched him in the rearview-mirror.

"Why the hell am I always giving a lift to your squints?!" he murmured quietly but still loud enough to have Bones looking at him critically.

"If you're going on like this I'll get my TV being picked up again." She threatened. Bones had to laugh when she saw Booth's shocked face.

They were driving on the highway now and the city was growing smaller behind them. Booth turned to Bones again.

"You're kidding, right?"

She had to smirk. "Mhm…maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

Hodgins watched them from the backseat and looked from one to the other as if he was watching a tennis match.

"Wow, that's better than TV."

Bones raised her eyebrows,

"see?"

Booth snorted,

"squints…" he said, earning a frown from Bones.

"What did you say?"

Booth took a breath and put on his sunglasses.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing."

A few miles away they could already see the stacks and the high buildings of the steel factory. The steelworks had been built next to the railway so the first thing they heard after getting out of the car was not the banging from falling steel plates, but the squealing sound of a braking train.

Booth locked the car when a worker from the factory came towards them. His blue uniform was dirty, the yellow helmet was half covered in dust and he was just pulling off some thick work gloves.

"Hi, are you the team from the FBI?"

Booth nodded and showed him his FBI ID and the warrant for the steel factory.

"My colleagues, Dr. Brennan and Dr. Hodgins."

"Ron MacDonald" He shook hands first with Bones then with Hodgins.

"Okay, do you want me to show you the territory?" he asked and pointed in the direction of the biggest hall behind him.

"Would be a good start," Booth replied and followed MacDonald towards the hall. Bones and Hodgins let themselves fall behind a little from the beginning and took a closer look while Booth was questioning Ron.

"How many hydraulic shears do you have here?"

The worker seemed confused for a moment.

"Hydraulic shears?"

"Yeah, you know, something that chops up the metal?"

"Actually we use hydraulic shears to reduce scrap metal into smaller, more manageable pieces." He pointed to the back of the hall. "One is just back there."

Booth beckoned Bones over to him and told her about the shears. Hodgins practically danced to the back of the hall. He stepped around the shears. They towered above all other machines in the hall. But the inside of this hall was more a storage than a place where something was produced.

A black belt carried the metal pieces into the hydraulic shears where sharp blades and compactors reduced the metal to small pieces. The shears themselves were almost as big as Booth's car. Next to the belt stood a trestle on which a worker was supervising the process.

Hodgins opened the bag he had slung over his shoulder. He pulled three small bottles with a clear fluid out of it. He carefully poured a few drops of each fluid on a white cloth which probably would never be white again after this.

Bones was amused when she saw the blank expression on Booth's face. When he looked at her questioningly she explained.

"We do pretty much the same thing as with the card, only quicker. Alcohol, phenolphthalein and hydrogen peroxide give a reaction that will turn the cloth pink if there are traces of blood.

Hodgins climbed on the trestle next to the shears and waited for Bones to hand him an iron rod that was leaning against the wall. He fastened the cloth to it. Then he went over the surface of the machine with it. After little more than a minute he pulled the rod closer to him again and checked the color of the cloth.

Bones already saw it from below and didn't have to wait for Hodgins to turn the cloth over completely. It was totally pink.

Booth sighed.

"Okay, so is there something you want to tell me?" he asked Ron who had started to sweat nervously.

"Was there an accident or anything similar?"

"Not that I know of," Ron answered and scratched his head.

"Is the chipper used for something else than metal?" Booth continued.

Ron stepped from one foot to the other.

"No…no, I've worked here for almost 10 years, I've never seen the shear being used for cutting something else other than scrap metal."

Booth nodded.

"Okay, you know what? I have to talk to your boss." Booth released him. Glad to get away from the situation Ron quickly turned around and almost ran away.

"Hey! No word about this! Are we clear?" Booth shouted after him.

Ron nodded nervously and went even faster than before.

Bones had climbed up the trestle as well and used a blade-like tool to scrape at a substance on the surface of the shears. She transferred the detached substance into a tube.

Booth waited impatiently for the supervisor who was coming into the hall while Hodgins and Bones were taking further samples.

"Booth?"

Booth looked up to her.

"I need the blades of the chipper in the lab. This will not be enough for a thorough examination." She held up one of the filled tubes.

Booth frowned,

"You want to disassemble the machine?"

Bones nodded,

"Yes."

The supervisor looked at her as if she was totally out of her mind.

"What? Are you crazy? That's a very complex machine. You can't just disassemble it because you believe there _might_ be blood traces!"

"Oh oh…" Booth recognized the expression on Bones' face.

"I do not _believe_ there might be blood traces, I have scientific proof that there are some." She showed him the duster. "I could arrange for workers from the Jeffersonian to come here and get the parts." She said to Booth and ignored the pained look on the supervisor's face.

Booth grabbed his phone and ordered a team from the FBI. He was supposed to concentrate on his work and the questions of the FBI agent on the phone, but although he knew better, he didn't like the fact that Hodgins was helping Bones getting down the trestle again.

Zach was still poring over the bone splinters. He had been able to classify and assemble most of the skull bones. Angela stepped behind him and looked at the half skull on the table.

"Wow! Not much missing anymore."

Zach didn't even look up but continued picking splinters from the plate.

"The missing pieces feature an inferior thickness and size so identification is more difficult. I should be done by the end of the week." He explained calmly and was so concentrated on his work that he didn't see Angela's smile.

"Okay Zach, you have really become more and more like Brennan."

Zach put down a piece he was holding against the light.

"To be exact, Dr. Brennan and I can only achieve a certain degree of similarity as we are of the opposite sex. But referring to her professional success and her knowledge, I take it as a compliment."

Angela shook her head and laughed as she left the platform when Hodgins entered the lab.

"How was it?"

Hodgins was beaming.

"Amazing! Nothing against the lab, but field work rocks!"

He embraced Angela for a minute before Bones and Booth came around the corner.

"I will definitely not allow you to do this!" Booth was obviously enraged.

"Booth, it's totally normal and I really don't have a problem with it." Bones explained and pulled the shoulder strap of her bag right again while walking. Booth first watched her then he took the bag away from her without reacting to the reproachful look from Bones.

"I can carry my bag myself!"

Booth strained his eyes and slung the bag around his shoulder.

"And I can wash my underwear myself!"

Bones gave him a bewildered look.

"Wow, Bones, what is in here?"

"Oh, only the absolute necessities. Gloves, hammer, cutting tools, tubes…"

Bones looked to Zach and pulled her ID through the scanner before stepping onto the platform. Booth remained at the stairs and put down the bag.

Angela grinned at him.

"Everything alright?"

Booth grimaced and wished he could take back the comment about washing his underwear.

"Good work, Zach." They heard Bones say. She came back after a minute and reached for her bag, but Booth quickly pulled the strap out of her hand.

Angela watched them going into Brennan's office and clicked the pen she was holding in her hand. She wanted to talk to Brennan but this was not the time.

"I just don't like it when someone…you know…"

"Washes your underwear?" Bones interrupted him

Booth strained his eyes again. "Did you have to say that?"

Bones sat down at her desk. Booth put down the bag next to her and let himself fall sighing on the couch.

"Bones, no one, really no one except my mother has ever washed my clothes and you will surely not start with it!"

Bones typed her passwords on the keyboard.

"Why not? You live with me!"

Booth sighed. "We work together, Bones. The fact that I live with you has only professional reasons."

Bones hesitated a moment. "Professional? Sure, that's why you're cooking for me and starting a discussion over the wallpaper in my apartment during breakfast."

He leaned forward and supported his head with his hands. _I knew she would not take it that easy…_

"I only said your apartment could use brighter colors and I could help you with the renovation."

"Which is a usual statement for someone who only lives with someone temporarily." _She knew it wasn't normal that this comment made her so furious but it somehow disturbed her that he meant he'd only live with her for professional reasons._

Booth noticed how agitated she was. He sighed and gave in.

"Fine, wash my clothes. You have my permission."

"Good," she bit out before opening some files.

For a few minutes there was only silence, then Booth stood up.

"See you later," he said and left Bones alone.

She watched him go with a thoughtful expression on her face.

The water was roaring, Booth enjoyed the warm water jet on his back. He soaped himself and whistled cheerfully. When his skin started becoming red from the hot water he got out of the shower.

In that moment Bones came back from work. She left her purse on the small table next to the door and let her keys drop into a bowl.

As she couldn't see Booth in the living-room, she assumed he wasn't home yet or in the guest room. _Maybe he's washing his clothes right now so that I can't do it for him._

Without listening if someone was in the bathroom or not, she opened the door. There he was. _Okay, he's not busy with his clothes." _

Booth quickly tied a towel around his hip when he saw her standing there.

"BONES!"

"Ehm…sorry." She closed the door and leaned against it. Booth had been fast with tying the towel around him, but not fast enough.

_Oh my god…_


End file.
